The Guise of Apathy
by vintagedoxy
Summary: [Sess:Kag] Rin has taken a sudden liking to Kagome. Sesshoumaru hates humans. But, Rin has grown particularly attached to a certain miko from the future. Sesshoumaru finds it utterly disgusting. But even so, his reactions are not that of a repulsed demon.
1. For Amusement

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: __Rachel Elizabeth_

—_For Amusement_—

Sesshoumaru looked at Jaken and with his stoic face announced to him, "Naraku thought that I, Sesshoumaru, for the sake of only a single human girl, would do exactly as he said, huh?"

Jaken looked at his Lord, unsure of what to say, because he would have bet his money on Sesshoumaru leaving and getting the girl because his pride had been wounded. However, Sesshoumaru just continued on into the fog that was the night. Not looking back once to acknowledge that Jaken was there or to note the loss of the little girl.

"I can feel it!" Kagome whispered, relieved that after days of traveling they were finally reaching the _kehai_of the jewel shard.

Inu Yasha stopped dead in his tracks, aware that not only was it the presence of the jewel shard, but of Kohaku. He turned back to look at Sango who was immersed in hitting Miroku over the head because of his recent transgressions. Sango was muttering something along the lines of "That monk will never learn".

Sango felt Inu Yasha's eyes before actually seeing them on her, and she looked up, aware of his expression. She frowned at the hanyou, unsure of what could cause such pain to cross his features, if only for a brief minute. When she looked up from Inu Yasha she realized why they had stopped so suddenly and why he was reluctant to move forward.

When Kagome saw Kohaku in the clearing of the meadow, she understood why Inu Yasha had stopped so quickly and had looked back. It wasn't that he didn't want to take the jewel piece, but that the owner of that particular piece was someone they hadn't wanted to deal with quite yet. 

Before anyone could move an inch, a little girl appeared out of the clearing, following Kohaku as happily as she could be. Kagome thought that she was the prettiest little girl she had ever seen. The adorable little girl had the softest brown eyes that shone with her childish innocence and brown hair that came barely past her shoulders. Abruptly, Kohaku turned around and swung his sword. Kagome gasped and raced towards the clearing, heedless of Inu Yasha's warnings.

"You stupid girl! You're going to get killed!" he yelled at her, running after the impulsive girl as he had always done before.

Kagome started yelling at Kohaku, unaware that he could hear nothing except the persistent voice in his head that told him to kill the little girl. Thankfully, the little girl was avoiding the swings as best she could, but it was plainly obvious that she was no match for Kohaku in the state that he was in.

Before thinking of the consequences, Kagome swooped up the little girl in her arms just as Kohaku went to swing the sword full force at her. Inu Yasha barely managed to jump in front of Kagome as the sword sliced at his left arm. Inu Yasha raised his eyebrow at Kohaku and taunted, "Is that the best you can do? You're murdering _children _now?"

Kohaku said nothing. The look in his eyes was ethereal, not even human anymore. As if he was being commanded by something deep within his self, Kohaku briefly looked apathetically over at the girl. He wasn't even interested in her in the least, he had come to do as he was told and instead had been interrupted by a mere half-ling. A slight rustle behind him reminded Kohaku that he was to leave whether he finished the job or not; he doubted that Naraku would become overly mad about a child not being destroyed. Without sparing so much as a glance towards his sister, he headed towards Kagura.

Sango watched in despair as her brother flew off with Kagura on a feather. She didn't have any words for what she was feeling. Again, she had been so close to him, yet he was, as usual, so distant from her in mind and body this time.

Kagome looked at the small little girl in her arms, she was giggling like mad as though the whole thing had just been a game that she had been playing. Kagome smiled at the girl, her giggling infectious to Inu Yasha and the group. "Rin misses Sesshoumaru-sama."

Kagome froze. Obviously she hadn't heard the little girl right or she was delusional, but Inu Yasha had stopped to stare blankly at the little girl, too. That was a good sign that at least Kagome wasn't hearing things. "Rin misses Sesshoumaru-sama," she declared more forcefully. Kagome wasn't even sure how to respond to a statement like that, how was it possible that Sesshoumaru was protecting a little girl? And she was a human child at that.

Kagome snuggled the girl more tightly to her chest and asked, "You travel with Sesshoumaru?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama, Sesshoumaru-sama. He loves Rin." Rin repeated his name as though to berate Kagome for not giving him the correct honorifics.

Sango looked at Inu Yasha and told him, "We---we can't keep her now! If Sesshoumaru finds out we have her . . . " she let her opinion fade into the wind, not wanting to say that they had to leave the girl behind somewhere.

Kagome looked at Sango as though she had grown two heads and said, "Rin is just a child! We can't just _leave_ her somewhere."

"Kagome-chan is right. Though she may be a companion of Sesshoumaru's we can't leave her out here, or at a village," Miroku muttered, placing the sleeping kitsune on top of Kirara and getting off to inspect the child.

Rin looked at the adults with a smile playing across her lips. Kagome backed away from the group and angrily told them, "This child is coming with us!"

Inu Yasha didn't argue for once. He didn't necessarily like the idea of another person being added to their group, but it looked as though for now he didn't have a choice without upsetting Kagome. He was tired, hungry and had been walking too damn long to listen to any more complaints.

They walked in peaceful silence, with Kagome and Rin on Inu Yasha's back and Rin sleeping peacefully in Kagome's arms. Once Shippo had awoken and become agitated that someone had taken his place, but Inu Yasha had only growled at him and he had hung on to Kirara's back more firmly. However much he didn't like being usurped, he also didn't feel like messing with Inu Yasha as he was and knew that Kagome wouldn't be on his side this time.

When they reached Kaede's village, Kagome carefully got down from Inu Yasha's back and headed towards Kaede's hut to get some well-deserved sleep with the little girl snug at her side. Shippo watched angrily as his surrogate mother and that little pipsqueak of a girl went into Kaede's cabin to rest. Without thinking of the consequences, he bounded towards the cabin and walked right in, but instead of being rebuffed as he had thought, Kagome just smiled in her sleep and held her arms out to him, too.

Rin was completely in a sandwich and she liked it, in her sleep she snuggled more firmly against Kagome and dragged the little boy with her. She liked the feeling of protection that Kagome had given her. The only other person that had given protection unconditionally was Sesshoumaru-sama and thinking of him brought tears to her eyes. She wanted to stay with Kagome-chan, but she loved her Sesshoumaru-sama. She had gotten herself into a fine mess, as Jaken-sama would say.

"Naraku, you realize—at least—don't you, that I haven't come to save Rin," Sesshoumaru told Naraku who was sitting in front of him, completely oblivious to how easy it would be for Sesshoumaru to kill him.

Naraku looked at the impassive Sesshoumaru and nodded, "I know. The fact that you didn't come to save the girl or that you won't kill Inu Yasha when asked made it clear that you had come to kill I, Naraku." Naraku briefly chuckled, as Sesshoumaru stood motionless, "However, the girl is gone."

Sesshoumaru looked at Naraku coldly, unimpressed and unbelieving that Naraku would be stupid enough to let the girl go. However, Sesshoumaru was done with Naraku's plotting and games that he insisted on playing. Cracking his knuckles, Sesshoumaru swiped at the baboon pelt and watched as scrap _yokai _flowed from Naraku's head.

Without sparing a glance back, Sesshoumaru turned to leave, but Naraku had caught onto his leg and attached himself with one of his tentacles. Sesshoumaru looked down impassively and swiped at the tentacle. He had had enough of playing and announced to Naraku, "Naraku . . . a mere low grade _yokai_ like you . . . won't even be able to lay a finger upon I, Sesshoumaru." With that, he turned and walked out of Naraku's castle, bored by the whole event and intent on finding Rin's location.

Sesshoumaru walked back to where he had left Jaken and looked far ahead into the forest. He wasn't certain that Naraku had been telling the truth about the whereabouts of Rin, however Sesshoumaru did have a sneaking suspicion that something wasn't as Naraku had planned it to be. Sesshoumaru looked at his servant whom had started off on his tirade of the needy Rin and how she wasn't worth their time or effort.

Instead of listening to his ramblings Sesshoumaru grabbed the staff and silently struck him on the forehead, breathing in the night air. What he hadn't smelled before however was the smell of his brother and his wench and some other faintly recognizable scent to be Rin.

"So, my dear brother has Rin." Jaken stopped talking immediately and blinked, rapidly, several times to make sure he had heard his Lord right.

Instead of waiting around any longer to fetch the child, Sesshoumaru grabbed Jaken by the head and carried him off on his cloud towards Inu Yasha and his wench. His brother would pay dearly for setting up this scheme. He didn't care where the girl ended up being, but if this was some elaborate ploy started by Inu Yasha . . . it was time for him to die.

When they landed near Inu Yasha's village Sesshoumaru looked at his pleading servant in his hand. "M'lord, m'lord. Rin is but a troublesome—"

Sesshoumaru looked at him coldly and stated calmly, "I, Sesshoumaru, am not here for the girl." With that being said, Jaken relaxed and felt more confident than he had.

Sesshoumaru commanded Jaken silently to stay where he was and wait for his return with the Tetsusaiga. When Sesshoumaru got to the outskirts of the village he snorted, indelicately, and mocked his brother's weakness in not guarding his village better. Any type of bandits or demons could have entered unbeknownst to the mutt. Sesshoumaru took another breath of air and, clearly enough; it was the girl, Rin's, scent. However, mingled with her scent was the scent of Inu Yasha's wench. Sesshoumaru didn't like the thought that that wench had so completely disrupted Rin's scent with her own as though she had become attached to the child.

He wasn't going to allow anyone to have that child to do as they pleased with her. Without realizing what his intentions were, he strode towards the hut that had Rin's scent in it. As he approached the door, he became even more conscious of the sleeping children inside and of Inu Yasha's human wench. Stepping inside, he eyed the human casually, angry that she could sleep so close to the child without inhibitions. Sesshoumaru realized, instantly, the mistake he had made in entering the hut with a sleeping Rin. He knew how light of a sleeper she could be and the rustling of the door had awoken her to groggily look at the door.

When Rin saw him, she carefully got out of Kagome's arms and went bounding towards Sesshoumaru. As he turned to leave with Rin on his arm, he watched silently as she turned her head to look at Inu Yasha's wench. He could see the regret written plainly on her face as though she had lost a surrogate mother. Sesshoumaru contemplated this scene, denying the fact that it would be so easy to just take Inu Yasha's wench and make Rin happy. He needed a human wench and that disgusted him more than he could possibly put into words. However, the thought was still there of how easy it would be to just take her for Rin.

Rin saw the cold look slowly soften from Sesshoumaru's face and she took her chance at her pleading, "Sesshoumaru-sama, wouldn't Kagome-chan take good care of Rin at home? Rin sure likes Kagome-chan a whole bunch." Sesshoumaru looked at her again, his stoic face still in place and still unreadable as ever.

"I, Sesshoumaru, think this is an interesting situation that you have gotten yourself into, Rin. Inu Yasha's wench is but a mere _human,_ child, and can not help you more than what you have." With that statement firmly in place, he stepped outside the hut and slowly started walking back towards Jaken.

Rin stopped him in his tracks with her next words, "Rin thinks Kagome-chan would be an acceptable human." The little girl clearly didn't understand that she, too, was human, but Sesshoumaru had not the patience to inform her that her beliefs were off, as usual. "Rin thinks that Sesshoumaru-sama needs Kagome-chan."

Sesshoumaru glared at the insolent girl for her impertinent statement. "I, Sesshoumaru, do not need any _human_. You dare much, Rin." Instead of being intimated in the least by his glare and his statement, Rin just sighed audibly and started humming to herself.

Sesshoumaru had stopped walking and had turned around to look at the hut in the distance. It would be disgustingly easy to taken the wench as she slept and her little kitsune, too. Sesshoumaru had come for the Tetsusaiga and instead was contemplating taking the human wench with him instead. It was not because he wanted the Tetsusaiga and he thought that Inu Yasha would trade it for her life, nor because he wanted Inu Yasha to follow her scent and come to Sesshoumaru's castle so that he could kill him, but simply because Rin had grown attached to the girl in but a few hours. He turned back towards the cabin and Rin squealed in welcome delight at knowing that she was getting her way.

"I, Sesshoumaru, have found it necessary to take the wench with us." When he entered the cabin again, he was startled briefly to find that Inu Yasha's wench was sitting upright and searching around the hut for something. When she finally had the decency to look up and acknowledge his presence her eyes became round circles and she quickly threw a hand across her mouth, clearly startled to find him there.

Instead of waiting for her to say something inane or ramble on about nothing, Sesshoumaru set Rin down by his feet and grabbed Kagome under her arms with his arm and watched as she frantically tried to grab the sleeping kitsune, but with no such luck. Kagome was just about to say something when Sesshoumaru stopped and threw her over his shoulders like a pack of potatoes and menacingly told her, "If you dare to speak, human . . ." He let his sentence fade into the wind, knowing that her fear of him would silence her. With that and a nod at Rin, the three quietly walked out of the village.

Hysterically, Kagome started pounding Sesshoumaru's shoulders, realizing that if she voiced her opinions it would be far worse than she could imagine. When they were safely out of the village, Kagome told Sesshoumaru coldly, "If you're expecting Inu Yasha to trade the Tetsusaiga, you're going to be sadly mistaken." Sesshoumaru didn't even spare a second's thought over her words as he slowly took the green scarf from around her neck and tied it in her mouth.

"I, Sesshoumaru, have no need to hear your ramblings tonight." And with those accursed words, the three companions and their captive took flight into the luminous night.

Kagome was cold, achy and tired of hanging onto Sesshoumaru for dear life, while Rin looked on with amusement deep in her gaze. Kagome realized dejectedly that befriending that girl had probably gotten her into this mess to begin with. She couldn't imagine Rin asking for something and Sesshoumaru not being arrogant enough to think that he could get her whatever she desired. Kagome sighed and Rin looked at her and giggled, thinking that Kagome thought this as fun as she did.

When the four reached what could only be considered a castle on top of the most beautiful hilltop Kagome had ever seen, Sesshoumaru set Kagome down on the ground none too gently and only looked at her. In those eyes she read everything she needed to know. Follow him or die.

It was as simple as that. Sesshoumaru wasn't one to play games with anyone and nor did he expect Kagome to feign girly indignities. He didn't credit her for much, but she wasn't a liar and nor would she become one with him.

He was the great Lord of the Western lands and she was now in his territory.


	2. These Feelings of Mine

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: __Rachel Elizabeth___

_—These Feelings of Mine—_

            She was squealing like a pig and she hadn't stopped since they had gotten to his home early in the morning. When he had tired of her antics he had told Jaken to take her to the room that she was to use for now. Jaken had willingly obliged, grasping the obnoxious girl by the wrist and leading her away. Sesshoumaru didn't know how much more of her inane conversation he could have handled at that point.

            She had the temperament of a neko, always exploding at the slightest hint of danger and protecting herself against him, which was ridiculous in itself. If he had wanted to kill her he could have done so long ago and gotten rid of her without a second thought. That, more than anything, was probably what was irritating him the most at that exact moment. It wasn't the fact that she was yelling at him and calling him an idiot with quite a few other colorful words, it wasn't the fact that she tended to argue with everything he could possibly say, and it wasn't the fact that she _was_, in fact, an annoying wench whom he had no use for. The fact of the matter was, was that he was angrier at _himself_ than at anyone. He had taken a _human _to his home and had not even had a second thought about killing her. And this was all for the sake of a child whom he had grown attached to.

            Perhaps he had taken her verbal abuse because he himself was actually disgusted by the events of that day. He had never before in his life taken another human in besides Rin and with Rin, it was completely different because she was but a child. However, with Inu Yasha's human wench it was more the fact that he had taken her because Rin wanted her. Like a toy.

            Sesshoumaru was not going to think about it like that because he had no desire to. The girl was simply there because it had been so ridiculously easy to take her and if Inu Yasha came to fight for her, it was all the better. He had no desire for that half-breed to be in the family anymore, coloring father's good name. Too long had their fight been prolonged.

            _Die Inu Yasha._

            Kagome was fuming. Never in her life had she ever been as completely angry as she was then. She had grown sick and tired of Sesshoumaru's cold, and domineering ways and had even told him so, but it was all to no avail. Sesshoumaru didn't listen to anyone except Sesshoumaru. It wasn't as though she thought that she could tell him to take her back to Inu Yasha, for she knew that that would never happen. However, she also knew that she didn't want Inu Yasha's help and that, more than anything, was what confused her so. Hadn't she always called for Inu Yasha to come and save her when she had been in trouble? Yes, that was always the case, but, somehow, with Sesshoumaru, it was different.

            She had the incontestable feeling in the pit of her gut that she wanted to prove to that arrogant jerk that she could fend for herself and that she could get out of any sticky situation without the help of his half-brother. She had never had this feeling before. Being with Inu Yasha, it had been almost as though she had had a crutch. She never needed to worry too much, because in her heart she had known that she could count on and trust Inu Yasha to come and save her no matter what the situation was. And in that, she would always love him. To her, he had been her knight in shining armor come to rescue the damsel in distress.

            With Sesshoumaru it was an altogether different story. Instead of wanting to kill him or run back to Inu Yasha, she wanted to mouth off at everything he said, and show him that she could defend herself without his half-brother. Where that feeling had come from she didn't think that she would ever know. Heck, anyone who had had an 'Inu Yasha' for their own would have felt the same as she had. No worries. Anyone would have used Inu Yasha just as easily as she had.

            Not that that had always been the case, darn it! Plenty of times she had saved herself from a monster. It was like that time . . . that time when . . . okay, so maybe she _had _always counted on Inu Yasha's help. Still, she wasn't completely helpless, because without her help, Menoumaru would never have been beaten. There were a few other times when Inu Yasha had counted on her strength, but Kagome betted that Sesshoumaru still would see her as nothing but a weak human.

            She didn't understand why, in the first place, she even cared _what_ that arrogant dog thought of her. He was an overgrown mutt to her. She loved Inu Yasha. Though she had never spoken the words out loud, she knew that in her heart she had accepted that fate long ago. Even if he loved someone else.

            Kagome's heart stopped as she looked out the window of her new room. The night was dank and dark, and only the moon illuminated Kagome's features. If she could have stood there for days just staring at the moon as she was now, she would have. The moon was so beautiful. However, there was something else in the air, something deadly. It was a scent that rose up in the night, swift and quick, reaching the nostrils to proclaim its purpose in the night. Kagome wasn't sure what the smell was exactly, but she was also certain that she didn't like it.

            It was the smell of death and fear that reached Sesshoumaru's nose that woke him late in the night. He had sat up abruptly in his big bed and had looked around his room to make sure that it wasn't anywhere near. That had been futile, however, because he would have known the instant it had been in his room. The smell had come from somewhere else, somewhere outside. When he heard a light tapping on his door, he immediately reached for his sword, which he kept hidden under his pillow, and thought how ridiculous he seemed. He knew that an intruder would never knock on its victim's door.

            When the knocking had stopped on his door, Sesshoumaru had let his guard slip a little, only to be dismayed to realize that someone was now entering his room. The intruder wasn't very bright, for he had not even bothered to check and see if the room was even occupied by someone. Taking his advantage, Sesshoumaru silently slipped out of his bed towards the intruder, thinking to grab him from behind and slice his head completely off. Upon reaching him, he grabbed him around the waist and put a hand over his mouth. However, upon grasping the intruder, Sesshoumaru realized that there was something vaguely familiar about this intruder's smell that he couldn't quite place.

            "Aof!" the stalker gasped, startled.

            That was when Sesshoumaru realized whom exactly he had _captured._ "_You,_" he said coldly, not letting her go. "What do you think you're doing?"

            Kagome gasped, and dolefully realized that she had flown out of the frying pan and straight into the oven. Narrowing her eyes she spat back at him, "_I _was getting out of my room. Isn't that what captives do? Try and _escape_?"

            Sesshoumaru felt a moment of admiration for the girl whose honesty spilt from her lips so easily. If he hadn't been so infuriated over her little antics of walking in his room he would have actually _enjoyed_ making the wench squirm a little. However, just knowing that she had thought that she could _escape_ from his castle without being detected made the ire in him rise to new levels. Before he even had a chance to respond to her indignant outburst, Sesshoumaru heard a noise in the hallway and a smell that hadn't ever reached his nostrils before.

            Without uttering a word, Sesshoumaru grasped Kagome by her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall, shielding her against anyone that may enter the room with his back. With her mouth pressed into the wall Kagome tried to utter a few coherent words, but Sesshoumaru only pressed her more firmly against the wall.

            Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes; he didn't know what was going on inside his household, but he vowed he would find out before the night was over. Instead of cowering in a dark corner with an asinine human wench, he would have liked to have gone out in the hallway and murdered the insolent creature who thought he could roam the halls of his house, but he had thought that a dead Kagome would be worthless to Inu Yasha if he came to get his wench.

            The whole situation was turning out to be a worthless one. Sesshoumaru didn't want to kill her and he didn't want to leave her alone in his dark room and have some ridiculous creature kill her. If anyone was going to kill that yapping wench it was unquestionably going to be him. That way, it wouldn't be a complete loss if Inu Yasha came looking for his wench. Sesshoumaru eased his hands from her when he realized that he was justifying his actions to himself of saving the human.

            Thinking that Sesshoumaru had loosened his guard enough to let her escape, Kagome blindly tried to free herself from Sesshoumaru's grasp. The only problem with that plan was that not only was he _more_ aware of her struggling to be free of him, but inadvertently she had plastered herself more firmly to him. Kagome tried to clear her mind, but the smell that surrounded her was intoxicating and she didn't even know what that _feeling_ was that she was experiencing in the pit of her stomach. Kagome's struggles were put to an abrupt halt when she realized that smell that was surrounding her was . . . _him!_

            That _disgusting _smell was Sesshoumaru!

            Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat and bit out at her, "You smell filthy." With those words and a last glance at her, he had pushed her away from him, knocking her into the wall, and turned and walked out of the room. Kagome sat on the floor, and glared at the door he had exited. She could have sworn, for a minute there, that he had been . . . sniffing her. But that couldn't be right. That arrogant dog! Just who did he think he was?

            Kagome ran to the door and pulled at the knob, only to find that Sesshoumaru had locked her in.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I have this habit where I wait a really long, long time to post chapters because I like to have my chapters really, really long and I know that's slightly annoying. So, this is what I'm doing, I'm going to post shorter chapters (about three or so pages long) and I'll put them up more quickly. I think. I hope everyone is enjoying this. Don't forget to review. I'm not even sure if anyone likes this pairing (Kagome/Sesshoumaru) or if I'm even doing it well. So let me know!


	3. Instincts

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

—_Instincts_—

            "You presume much," a cold voice muttered, not amused as the woman before him smiled politely.

            "I always have. Where is she?" the woman answered back, not in the least bit intimidated by Sesshoumaru's actions. Though she had never had any kind of contact with him, nor had she ever heard of him talked about, she knew what he was about. She knew the arrogance that he exuded over everyone. It was just like a _yokai_ to think so highly of himself over the human race.

            However, instead of replying to her question, he only looked at her coldly, denying that she had spoken to him. In his home and in his rooms he answered to no one, and this was true for the whole of the western lands. This domain was his and his alone, he had never answered to anyone and if she thought that that was going to change, he would kill her for her impudence.

            "I knew you wouldn't answer. I could find her very easily. However, I have no business with that woman of that kind. She but has something of mine that I intend to take back from her."

            At this statement, Sesshoumaru raised one eyebrow and grabbed her by the arm and led her away. "You are not welcome here." When they finally reached the front doors, one of his servants grasped the door handles and opened the door for his Lord. Sesshoumaru knocked her to the ground outside his castle doors. "Do not think for one minute that I, Sesshoumaru, am anything like that half-breed. I have no care to know what your association with him is, so do not come near the girl."

            The woman acknowledged his words, though she never spoke it out loud. Sesshoumaru was not one to make idle threats. However, there was still a matter to handle that she could not leave alone. Perhaps the best course of action now was to involve his brother. Inu Yasha would run to her side, even if it meant facing his brother.

            Kikyou was tired, and she was sick of that girl.

            Sesshoumaru walked silently back to his room, annoyed that the human wench was turning out to be more trouble than she could ever be worth. He had forgotten the reason why, in the first place, he had even taken her. It didn't matter anymore, however, because he never backed down from anything. Especially not anything that involved that half-breed. However, just knowing that that corpse thought that she could walk into his castle and onto his lands and demand to speak to the girl that was, by rights, his, he was infuriated. That woman _did_ presume much more than any human ought to be allowed. He had no special attachment to the girl that was considered his hostage, but nor did he have any particular want of her being killed by someone other than himself.

            By the law in the western lands that woman who resided in his castle now was _his._ Whether by her choice or by his, he owned her. She was another piece of flesh to add to the people of the western lands. The only minute difference was that the people who lived in the western lands did so by choice. The human wench had long ago lost her rights to any kind of choice when she had chosen that half-breed to protect her. The minute he couldn't protect her was the instant she became a free meal or hostage to any number of people.

            Sesshoumaru thought idly that the half-breed was lucky that it was he, instead of someone else whom had chosen to take the wench. For surely anyone else would have killed, or eaten, her by now. Though if he was told by anyone that this was an act of kindness he would have their brains on a platter and their toes and fingers cut off. In his heart and in his land he had no room for compassion or kindness. These two qualities had never been associated with him and nor did he want them to become part of himself now. Those sorts of emotions were for the weak.

            The instant Sesshoumaru walked into his room he realized that something had changed about the room. He stopped cold, dead in his tracks, and realized that the smell that had reached his nose was that of a fighting spirit. _That wench has my sword._ "It is futile. Give me the sword and perhaps I will let you live until tomorrow."

            Instantly, Sesshoumaru could hear the startled gasp that spurred from her mouth, even as she tried to hide it from him. In a flash, he felt the icy tip of the sword pointed at his heart and saw, with amusement, the girl in front of him. "I don't know what you want, but I haven't done anything. Just let me go back to him. He needs me."

            Sesshoumaru eyed her with barely veiled malevolence. With cold fury lacing his tone he spat out at her, "I, Sesshoumaru, do not care what that insolent half-breed _needs._ Do not ever speak of him again." With one fell swoop, he had captured the sword's hilt from Kagome's hands and had her back pinned against his chest with the sword's tip at her throat. Again, she gasped, realizing the perilous situation that she had thrown herself in to.

            Belatedly, she realized that bringing up Sesshoumaru's brother was probably about the worst thing that she could have possibly done. However, she was not one to back down from anything she would say. The icy tip of the sword nicked her throat, and blood spilt forth freely and Kagome realized that Sesshoumaru did not _care_ whether she lived or died. She had stolen his sword and betted on the fact that he needed her to get his brother to him, but he had just made it perfectly clear that he had no reservations with killing her.

            Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. The girl in his grasp had started shaking violently and her smell had changed from one of bravado to one of complete and utter fear. It infuriated him that it had taken the girl this long to realize that he could kill her without giving a second's thought and—

            She was doing it again. That _insolent _wench's scent had changed from one of abject fear to boldness that was not going to keep her alive through the night. She thought that because he had taken her in the night that he needed her to stay alive because he wanted the half-breed.

            The wrath deep inside him grew until he could feel his instinct to kill almost over powering him. Never before in his life had he had a moment where he couldn't control his darker half. However, with every day that the human wench caused more problems, the more he realized how easy it could be to just kill the wench.

            It was happening again, just like the day he had brought her to his home . . . 

            _"Sesshoumaru-sama!__ Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken pestered. Jaken had been staying with the human wench since they had arrived because he had commanded it so, but Jaken was at his limits and he looked ready to strangle her._

_            Thinking to scare some sense into the girl whom was now staying at his house, he went to the room that he had allowed her to use. However, when he got there the room was in shambles and the wench was on the bed, crying. When she heard the door open, her face lit up with hope, only to be smashed again at the sight before her. She obviously didn't think that he could be of any use to her and this made the bile in his throat rise to new levels._

_            "Take me back to Inu Yasha! He'll come for me, anyway! Look, I didn't even mean to take Rin, but they were—"_

_            "_Silence!_" he told her, the placidity leaving his face to be filled by the anger in his chest that he was feeling. He could feel his control snapping bit by bit knowing that the girl was not afraid of him, nor was she necessarily keen on the idea that he had given her a room. The earlier thought was what was irritating him largely. It made him realize that he wanted to go over to her and snap her neck, without a second's thought. He had never felt this rash before in his life. He was not that half-breed who could not control his anger._

_            Kagome must have seen something in his eyes because the minute he started thinking about the half-breed was the minute she stopped her whimpering and crying to crawl backwards on the bed, away from him. Sesshoumaru realized later . . . _

_            His eyes had started to shift in color._

            It felt as though it was happening again. His temper rose to new levels at the thought that he had become like that half-breed; so lost in his anger that he could not control the darker half of his instincts. However, these thoughts were also not helping him move on from his anger. After throwing the sword far from her reach, he took his claws and planted them on her waist to prevent any movement.

            If she had moved at that time, he would have sliced her in half, he had no doubt. His anger had not abated and he waged that if she had turned around at that time she would see that same look in his eyes that she had seen the first day she had come to his castle. However, standing behind her and throwing his sword to the side had not lessened his anger. It felt as though his chest was on fire and he could snap her neck to the side and be through with this problem. It _was_ his problem; this girl whom his _brother_ had chosen to protect.

            Upon grasping her by the waist, her body had almost become slack in his arm; he assumed it was because she was too afraid to do anything else. When he had grabbed her with the sword her body had tensed up like a board, but now that she was no longer in control at all, her body had almost become acquiescent. Her arms had come up to her stomach, as though to shield her from an attack from the front that would never happen. Sesshoumaru watched silently as she assumed a defensive pose to hold back intruders from the front. Inconsequently, he wondered if she realized that these defensive mechanisms would not hold against anything that he could or wanted to do.

            Kagome peeked back at Sesshoumaru to find out what exactly he planned to do and instantly, she realized that his eyes were the same color as they had been the first day she had come to the castle. They weren't exactly red, like when Inu Yasha transformed, but they were a pinkish color, indicating to her that perhaps he was at his breaking point. Kagome didn't want to think what would happen if he decided to let go.

            However, to her surprise, he leaned his head towards her hair unintentionally to get a better grip on her waist and time froze. He was doing that thing again . . . that thing he had been doing earlier, where he was almost—sniffing—her, but this time it was different. He did not seem repulsed instead he moved closer to her, almost as though he were doing this of his own . . . free will. However, the longer his head stayed in her hair, the more fearful she became of the consequences of her actions. When he let her go, she could see in his eyes that the anger had taken control of him.

            His eyes were no longer pink or white; they had turned a shade of red that was darker than blood.

~*~*~*~*~

AN: I told you if I write shorter chapters they get out sooner! I hope you guys like this. Maybe some of you can tell where I'm going to head with this; I hope so! Anyway, just to let everyone know **I have a mailing list that you can join.**Just go to my Fanfiction bio and the link to it is in there. Ciao!


	4. The Dangerous Fascination

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

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**_However, to her surprise, he leaned his head towards her hair unintentionally to get a better grip on her waist and time froze. He was doing that thing again . . . that thing he had been doing earlier, where he was almost—sniffing—her, but this time it was different. He did not seem repulsed instead he moved closer to her, almost as though he were doing this of his own . . . free will. However, the longer his head stayed in her hair, the more fearful she became of the consequences of her actions. When he let her go, she could see in his eyes that the anger had taken control of him._**

**_            His eyes were no longer pink or white; they had turned a shade of red that was darker than blood_**

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

—_The Dangerous Fascination_—

            In the air, Sesshoumaru could smell that the wench thought that his anger had not abated and this, exceeding anything else, caused the fear which he smelt. However, Sesshoumaru knew the real reason why his instincts were taking over, but he would not share that bit of information with the human. It disgusted him; it made him feel as though he was as base as a human male. The closer his nose became to her hair, the more he felt himself weakening his resolve to steer clear of her.

            The door to his room was mellifluously knocked upon and started creaking open, and Sesshoumaru raised his head from Kagome's eyes to growl low in his throat. He did not need one of his servants walking in on him like this. He had grabbed the wench by her waist and hung on to her, embarrassingly, as though he didn't want her scent to be so far from his nose.

            Kagome wasn't sure what was going on inside Sesshoumaru's head. The longer she stood there, in front of him, the more fearful she became that he was going to kill her. Every time that they had met before he had only been seconds away from killing her. Kagome didn't think for a minute that Sesshoumaru even liked her that much as a human being, if he even liked human beings at all. She didn't know much about him, but that didn't dissuade her from trying to escape or plead with him to let her go.

            Sesshoumaru was almost euphoric when her smell started to change from fear to something that was akin to—interest—in . . . him. What was this feeling of utter domination over a human wench? He had had complete control of her before, but the last strands of logic left inside his head screamed at him that he was lying to himself. He had never had complete control over this wench, which was the reason that he had become so obsessive over her. He had never had to once think twice that a female residing in his lands was not obeying his every command. However, ever since that . . . that—wench had come into his home and onto his land, he had done nothing except futilely attempt to control her every action. He had even locked her in a specific room where her every movement could be monitored, so that he could know when the wench thought to escape.

            And now, after days of the endless power struggle, she was noticing him, not simply as a _yokai_ and not simply as a man, but as someone that she could become vaguely interested in. Sesshoumaru absentmindedly wondered if this feeling that he was experiencing was one of disgust, mirth, or ambiguous curiosity in the wench as well, knowing that she saw him beyond the façade of terror. He realized idly that he had allowed the wench to unintentionally become closer to his true nature. Spending so much time with her in his castle had obviously addled his brain cells.

            "Get out," he muttered, bothered that the control he had over himself would snap and he would grab her. The only thoughts running through his mind at that point were ones of her whimpering. He was, after all, still a full blooded animal, and with her unpredictable scent changing back and forth, he didn't know how long it would be before he marked her, if she continued to stand in front of him, in his room.

            Not only did Kagome misunderstand his meaning entirely, but as she stepped out of his room, she glanced back at him. She wasn't too sure what had changed his attitude so quickly, but she was sure that at that point, she didn't care to know. As fast as her legs would take her, she ran towards the front of the house, knocking over servants who were in her way. When she got to the doors at the front of the castle, she briefly glanced over her shoulder to make sure that this wasn't a dream. _Mama, Souta,_ Kagome thought, intent on going home first thing when she got back to Inu Yasha and the rest of her friends.

            Kagome started running, worried that Sesshoumaru would change his mind and come looking for her to kill. She was more afraid for her life at that moment than she had ever been before. She had never once thought of her life before others, it had always come naturally that she was worried about someone other than herself. However, Kagome never once thought of Rin as she ran deep into the forest of the Western Lands.

            Sesshoumaru heard the raucous in his hallway minutes before Jaken appeared to inform him that the wench had escaped his castle. The wrath that emanated off of Sesshoumaru hit Jaken like a volcano; he had never seen his Lord engender _that_ particular look on his face before.

            Sesshoumaru looked at Jaken distantly, infuriated that he had allowed the wench to escape so easily. "There will be repercussions for your disobedience." Jaken swallowed perceptibly, wincing at the tone of Sesshoumaru's voice.

             Sesshoumaru flew out of his room, pulsing with fury over the wench's clear defiance of his orders. He had never thought for a second that he had to specify every little thing that he said to the wench, but the oversight would not happen again. If the wench thought that he would so easily let her be free of him, then she did not know as much as she liked to believe she did about him. Anything, including any_one_ that belonged to him, did not leave his sight for long and that included his _brother's_ human.

            When he finally found her, she was still running through the woods, the tears in her eyes decreasing her ability to see. Sesshoumaru caught up with her quickly and grabbed her around the waist, taking one hand to grab her hair to pull her head back so that he could speak into her face, "I should kill you now." Seizing her small body into his arm, he threw her down against the nearest tree trunk. She landed with a thud on the ground and tried to, unsuccessfully, glare up at Sesshoumaru. Numbly, she stood up from her place on the ground, too afraid to do much else.

            "I—I thought when you sai—"

            "I do not need to hear what you_ thought_. Listen to me closely, human girl," Sesshoumaru spat, putting his face mere inches from hers and his hands on the sides of her face, "Unless specifically told otherwise, you don't _think_ anything. Assumptions will get you killed." Sesshoumaru realized his mistake in getting so close a minute before his logical brain stopped working. Her scent surrounded him, it was intoxicating. With everything that had happened tonight, the adrenaline from chasing her must have caused his body to go into overdrive. There was no other explanation for the feelings that the girl was evoking inside of him.

            Sesshoumaru wondered absentmindedly when he had stopped referring to her as 'wench' and 'human'. He noted that it was probably right before he had started sniffing her scent because he liked the way it smelled. Every time he got near this girl it was as though he couldn't help himself; he had become unnecessarily obsessive over a human girl. He couldn't explain what was going on inside his brain, but he did know that all logic had ceased and he was beginning to admire the girl for several different reasons. He had never before allowed himself to become so close to _anyone_ as he had been with the girl. She was constantly either right in front of him, or threatening his life with his sword. Sesshoumaru snorted.

            Kagome looked up, surprised at the sudden sound that came from Sesshoumaru. She wasn't sure what was going on inside his head, but the power that he so normally radiated seemed as though it had lessened noticeably. She didn't know if that was her cue to turn and run away from him or play it smart and stay where he told her to. After all, wouldn't Inu Yasha come to save her? There was also the matter that the longer she stayed right in front of Sesshoumaru the more she became vaguely aware of the masculine appeal he held. When had she become so adept at acknowledging these things? She was only sixteen! She wasn't even out of _Middle School_ yet. However, with every minute that passed by in Sesshoumaru's arm, the more aware she became of him as a cute—dog. Okay, so maybe she needed to rethink her current strategy. Standing in Sesshoumaru's arm and thinking of him as a . . . cute—something—was not helping her cause any.

            Nonetheless, she couldn't help it because, in the end, Sesshoumaru _was_ a very handsome guy. Kagome didn't think that she would ever be able to define the exact moment that that reality hit her, nor did she think that she particularly cared to know, but there it was. Sesshoumaru was definitely _all male._ Whether or not she knew if she, as a person and as a female, could understand, or like the situation that she had unintentionally put herself into, it had become, nonetheless, a situation. She had accidentally become fascinated by Sesshoumaru.

            Sesshoumaru noticed that not only had her scent changed, _again,_ [the girl could never make up her mind what she thought of him], but that she had become relaxed, taking her arms away from her defensive pose to let them lay by her sides. He wondered briefly at this thought, before her hand reached up to move aside some of his hair that had fallen into his face. Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat, but even that threat didn't seem to faze her in the least. She only smiled timidly at him before tucking the strands behind his ear, making sure that she barely even touched his skin. Sesshoumaru didn't know if it was out of self-preservation or fear that she did not touch his skin, but he had become interested in knowing which it was.

            When she went to pull her hand back away from his face, he grabbed her wrist and examined it carefully. The girl wisely held her tongue. Before Kagome had a chance to even defend her actions, Sesshoumaru had placed her hand against his ear, determined to make her touch the skin that she seemed so horrified to touch earlier. Sesshoumaru could vaguely hear the intake of her breath and the faint exhale when she realized that he was not going to harm her before she let her index finger roam down the side of his ear. Sesshoumaru mistakenly let a tiny growl slip from his throat before Kagome retracted her hand from his ear, afraid of the consequences.

            Kagome wasn't even sure why she thought that he was going to spring out and kill her; it had been his own fault! He had grabbed her hand and put it on his ear! What did he think she was going to do? Did he think that she wouldn't give in to impulse and rub the outside of his ear that was so unfamiliar to her?

            "Let's go," he announced, before he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

            Well, he just _may_ be cute, but he sure didn't know how to treat a girl!

~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Does anyone notice how fast I'm getting these chapters out? I think it's because I _love_ this story. Really, I mean it, I adore this story. I'm not blowing my own horn, my writing sucks, but I really like the story that I have worked out in my head. Anyway, to anyone who noticed the slight scene-stealing from _Beauty and the Beast,_ gomen! I tried to make that scene as original as possible, but it's a redundant scene, and so many people have done it before. Anyway, once again, don't forget to review. And thank you guys who have reviewed so far. It means so much to me!


	5. Ten things I don't hate about you

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

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**_When she went to pull her hand back away from his face, he grabbed her wrist and examined it carefully. The girl wisely held her tongue. Before Kagome had a chance to even defend her actions, Sesshoumaru had placed her hand against his ear, determined to make her touch the skin that she seemed so horrified to touch earlier. Sesshoumaru could vaguely hear the intake of her breath and the faint exhale when she realized that he was not going to harm her before she let her index finger roam down the side of his ear. Sesshoumaru mistakenly let a tiny growl slip from his throat before Kagome retracted her hand from his ear, afraid of the consequences._**

**_            Kagome wasn't even sure why she thought that he was going to spring out and kill her; it had been his own fault! He had grabbed her hand and put it on his ear! What did he think she was going to do? Did he think that she wouldn't give in to impulse and rub the outside of his ear that was so unfamiliar to her?_**

**_            "Let's go," he announced, before he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes._**

**_            Well, he just _****may_ be cute, but he sure didn't know how to treat a girl!_**

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—_Ten things I [don't] hate about you_—

            Kagome glanced outside the window of her quarters, lonely and hurt. When they had finally reached Sesshoumaru's castle again he had been unnecessarily cruel to her. _What did I expect, laughter and light from an over-bearing butthead?_ Well, he _had_ surprisingly let her touch him, and Kagome didn't know if that was a step in the right direction towards—what, exactly? She had never courted the thought that she might want to be friends with him, or _any_thing for that matter. To her, he was just Inu Yasha's brother. Okay, so maybe lately she had regarded him as an attractive—_un_attractive, definitely _un_attractive dog that she could just _hug_—strangle—him. She actually wanted to strangle him—_really_!

            Even with those intense eyes that looked at a person and felt as though they could see to a person's soul—she _hated_ that—really! _Why am I making up excuses to myself? There are so many things about that idiot that I don't like. The way he looks at me as if he's trying to assess me, the way his eyes can have so much warmth yet so much hatred, the way he moves, the way he talks . . . the way he can sometimes be so kind, the way he doesn't give less than his all, the way he doesn't beat around the bush. Well, I guess he can be pretty nice; giving me a room sure was incongruous of him._

            At that precise moment, her stomach decided that food was a necessity to live and Kagome groaned. She didn't want to go even one _foot_ outside her room, lest they have a repeat of earlier. She did _not_ want Sesshoumaru thinking that she was trying to escape again. In his own way, he was very cute, but he frightened her more than anything could. Her stomach growled petulantly again and Kagome scowled. For a brief moment, she could swear that her stomach was turning into a traitor. Cautiously, Kagome put a toe outside her room, determined to find some food in this place. The minute her foot had completely stepped out of the room, she felt someone's eyes on her. _Now I'm being watched? After an episode like this morning, he can't _really_ think that I am _that_ dumb?_ Kagome hesitated, briefly, contemplating. _Okay, so maybe I would still try and escape, but right now the only thing that matters is getting some food before I starve._

            The hallway was very narrow and to the right and left of her they both seemed as though they led to nowhere. However, before she could even choose which way she wanted to take, that little toad, Jaken, came scurrying up to her, a black scowl across his face. "You've gotten me into enough trouble. Get back in your room, human." _Gee, does no one in this castle think very highly of humans?_

            Kagome rolled her eyes at the ceiling, thinking that she was hitting closer to home with her thoughts than she liked to believe. "Haven't we been through this before? Remember what happened _last_ time you threatened some of my friends? Same rule applies for me, you little toad!"

            "I told you before I'm not a—"

            "Blah, blah, blah. I don't care, the only reason I came out was because I'm hungry. I'm only sixteen years old, what do you expect?" Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes at the toad to appear angry. In truth, she was hungrier than anything and wasting time on the toad was pointless.

            Jaken eyed her contemptibly before nodding at her to follow him. Kagome raised her eyes, suspicious that the toad was actually going to help her, but she guessed starving her was not on the list of things Sesshoumaru wanted done. Kagome snorted and Jaken looked back at her, disgusted. Kagome barely even noticed when he looked back at her, for some odd reason she had the distinct feeling that someone was _still _watching her. Kagome shrugged, convinced that it was just her imagination.

             When they got close to the kitchen the smell of food and sweets drove Kagome closer inside, if this castle knew how to do one thing, it was cook a meal. Kagome had never smelled anything so delicious or appetizing in her life before. Briefly, she could smell the oden that wafted from the back of the kitchen to her nostrils and Kagome was lost. Jaken appeared to be too immersed in ordering the maids around while Kagome silently walked to the back of the kitchen, drowning in the scent that continued to become stronger. When Kagome got close enough to the smell, she collapsed from fatigue, unaware that she had been in such a weakened state.

            When she awoke hours later, [she assumed so, anyway], she was in her room again, with noodles by her bed and the girl-child, Rin, by her side, watching her. Rin looked at her quizzically, almost as though she thought that she would be able to read what was on Kagome's sullen mind. Kagome gave her a brief smile before she reached over to grab the bowl of noodles that had been left for her. She couldn't imagine who had brought her back and left food by her side, but she betted that Sesshoumaru had probably had a servant drag her by her hair, just so that he wouldn't have to touch her.

            _What is with him and touching?_ She wondered. She had never met a man before who was so adverse to anyone touching him. Granted, Inu Yasha had never liked her touching his ears, but that was just about the only part of him that would get him riled up, but sometimes she couldn't help herself. He did have the cutest ears. However, with Sesshoumaru, it was an altogether different story. When they had been in the forest and she had [_stupidly_] wanted—no, _needed_ to touch him, to make sure that the whole fiasco was real, he had grabbed her hand when she had _not_ touched him. She had made sure that she had as little bodily contact with him as humanly possible, but instead, he had put her hand on his ear almost as though he _sought_ out for her to touch him. The thought that he wanted her touching him was, of course, absurd.

            Kagome was so utterly engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even realize when someone had stepped inside of the room. However, it wasn't long before Rin looked up from Kagome atop the bed and squealed in delight. She started on a random tirade of thoughts that led Sesshoumaru to stare at the girl, fighting against his urge to snap at her. Sesshoumaru had no idea what had put him so on edge lately, but whatever it was, it annoyed him and that girl was probably the cause. Rin had been with him almost a year and he had never had this overwhelming desire to shut her up so quickly; he could always handle her rambling. He was not like Jaken who had very little patience for the girl, however much he loved her.

            Sesshoumaru nodded silently at Rin and before Kagome even knew what had happened, Rin had spoken her love words to her Sesshoumaru-sama and was gone from the room. Sesshoumaru looked at the girl on the bed and scowled, "Eat. You're very weak."

            Kagome looked down at the bowl of noodles that she had placed in front of her to eat and she felt her stomach churn. The thought of putting anything inside her stomach except medicine made her nauseous. Kagome doubted very seriously that Sesshoumaru would let her go back to the well and to her time, so that was out of the question, but perhaps he would let her see a medicine woman. Sesshoumaru could feel her eyes on him before she spoke to him, and he wondered at her. She had never openly studied him before, but he couldn't say that he minded too much. The girl had a way of looking at someone and knowing their darkest secrets, it unnerved him. He was always the one who never had to worry about insignificant people looking into his mind; he could always school the features on his face to show nothing of what he felt.

            But, there was something uncomforting in the way that that girl looked at someone, as though she could, without any deliberation, just _know_ things about him. He had to get his mind back under his control and eliminate any further interaction with the girl. She was his and that was all there was to that; he would not think on it anymore. He would not obsess over a single human girl as his father had; humans were worthless bei—

            "Now what have I done?" Kagome asked, nonplussed. Instead of answering her, his eyes shot up to hers and he scowled.

            He was spending far too much time with the girl. "Eat." He thought it was a simple enough command; the girl had obviously been low on protein and her body was reacting to that. Somewhere in the back of his head also lurked the thought that he did not want to go through the unsavory task of having to carry her in his arm again. However, the girl looked at her food and her face turned a muddy shade of green that made him rethink his current situation. Quietly, he walked from the door to stand beside her on the bed, just to make sure that she wasn't going to vomit on his clean sheets—his mother's sheets. Why had he put her in this room?

            "I—I don't know what's wrong with me, I was so hungry earlier."

            "I will call a miko," but at that word Kagome grabbed Sesshoumaru's hand and her eyes went wide. _Ah, that one miko has her gripped by fear._ Perhaps it was best if he did not call a miko and instead he saw to it that she was properly cared for by his servants.

            She was not letting go of his arm so easily, however. As he tried to gracefully step out of her grasp, she just as easily gripped his arm harder, unaware that her emotions were playing across her face. Sesshoumaru could easily see that she was frightened and he contemplated this. On one hand, it was maddening to him that the girl thought that he would not protect what was his, but on the other hand, it was also sickening this feeling inside his gut that wanted to lash out at that corpse that caused so much grief. When had he started caring? He couldn't remember.

            Before his words connected with his brain he lashed out, "This is _my_ castle. This ludicrous fear of yours is misguided. Stop." Kagome looked up at him, stunned at several different things at once. The most pressing was that this—_arrogant dog_ thought that just by telling her to '_stop worrying'_, instantaneously everything would be all right, and the second was, of course, that he had obviously thought this through. He was _mad_ that she was frightened, and wasn't that . . . interesting.

            Kagome looked at her hand, which was still gripping his arm. His one arm. _Oh my Kami! He only has one arm!_ Guiltily, she looked up at him, aware that he was looking at her, and realizing for the first time in a long while that the other arm—_ah,_ 'incident'—was partly . . . her fault. Well, Inu Yasha's . . . okay, she needed to stop blaming things on him even though it _was_ partly his fault. Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose at the look of shock and recognition that flashed across her features.

            "Do not give yourself so much credit, girl," Sesshoumaru snickered down at her.

            Kagome looked up from his one arm and her eyes went wide. In the light—with his features glowing by the light of a new day, his face had contorted into a soft look that seemed out of place, but Kagome thought that that was about the nicest thing he could have done for her. Not only was he softening up, but also he was worried about her health and that was swe—_CAPTOR!_ _Think **captor**, Kagome. He has you locked in a room and will not let you leave his castle._

            Sesshoumaru growled at the immediate change in her scent and started leaning towards her. Instinctively, she moved to go back against the bed, away from him and the heat that he started permeating, but instead of growling at her and going away as she had hoped, he moved down with her. She was now pinned with her back against the bed and Sesshoumaru's right arm on the other side of her form, blocking her between his arm and his tall form. Sesshoumaru snarled at her again, closer to her face than she had ever had him before and Kagome's life flashed briefly before her eyes.

            Sesshoumaru looked at her eyes glazed over with fear and he realized for the first time that the girl's scent was more pleasing than he'd like to admit. He wanted to bite her; he wanted to prove to her and anyone that even had an inkling of doubt that she belonged to this castle and more importantly; him. Sesshoumaru snarled low in his throat again and before his brain connected with his mouth, he had sunk his teeth into her bottom lip and reveled in her yelp.

            _Finally, finally_.

~*~*~*~

Geez, is this getting dark or what? Gomen! I swear it's not really a dark fic, but I can't imagine Sesshoumaru other than a strong demon that would do anything to prove his point. However, do _not_ think that this means this is going to be a rape fiction, because it will _not_ be. The updates are probably going to be a little stranger than normal because school starts for me next week, but hopefully I will be able to update. I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review.


	6. Matters of Intrigue

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

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**_Kagome looked up from his one arm and her eyes went wide. In the light—with his features glowing by the light of a new day, his face had contorted into a soft look that seemed out of place, but Kagome thought that that was about the nicest thing he could have done for her. Not only was he softening up, but also he was worried about her health and that was swe—CAPTOR! Think _captor_, Kagome. He has you locked in a room and will not let you leave his castle._**

**_            Sesshoumaru growled at the immediate change in her scent and started leaning towards her. Instinctively, she moved to go back against the bed, away from him and the heat that he started permeating, but instead of growling at her and going away as she had hoped, he moved down with her. She was now pinned with her back against the bed and Sesshoumaru's right arm on the other side of her form, blocking her between his arm and his tall form. Sesshoumaru snarled at her again, closer to her face than she had ever had him before and Kagome's life flashed briefly before her eyes._**

**_            Sesshoumaru looked at her eyes glazed over with fear and he realized for the first time that the girl's scent was more pleasing than he'd like to admit. He wanted to bite her; he wanted to prove to her and anyone that even had an inkling of doubt that she belonged to this castle and more importantly; him. Sesshoumaru snarled low in his throat again and before his brain connected with his mouth, he had sunk his teeth into her bottom lip and reveled in her yelp._**

**Finally, finally.**

**_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

****

—_Matters of intrigue_—

            Sesshoumaru briefly closed his eyes at the contact that heated up between them. Not only was biting her more exciting than he had originally thought, but it was the most permanent mark he could think of at this point. Since she was human, he could not, obviously, mark her and claim her to be his mate. Her scent had also begun to change as the wind again; she was no longer permeating that frightened scent, but a scent more feminine than she could imagine. Lightly, Sesshoumaru grabbed her neck by his claws and lifted her body closer to his so that the contact made her breath catch in her throat.

            Kagome barely had enough time to register the fact that her body had been slammed against Sesshoumaru's before she realized that a heat had started to spread through her body and warm her veins. Once in awhile Kagome would doubt the masculinity of this man, however that minute doubt stopped right now. She could feel her heart against his, almost as though it was in sync with hers, pounding fiercely, unable to rush blood to other parts of their bodies fast enough. His chest was warm and demanding; he wanted no less than he took. He did not demand anything from Kagome that she was not willingly giving to him and a fierce growl took to his throat and Kagome's body purred her approval.

            Before Kagome could even begin to understand or anticipate feelings, Sesshoumaru had knocked her back on the bed, away from him. Silently, he stood and glared daggers at the door, unable to move, not _wanting_ to move. The girl had, once again, disrupted the peace of his castle and he had had more than enough. Whether he realized it or not, perhaps it was time for the girl to go back to her companions. Sesshoumaru silently snorted at that thought; it would be as if he was acquiescing to Inu Yasha and he would never allow that foolish mutt to think that he had. So the question now became what to do with the girl to occupy her time and keep her as far away from him as possible.

            Kagome gasped and sighed and Sesshoumaru briefly turned around to watch her lick her lip to clean off the dried blood. She sat there, in the middle of his huge bed and moistened her lips several times to clean herself, but it was to no avail and Sesshoumaru kept getting closer to cleaning her _himself_. Impudent girl—"What did you do that for?" Kagome demanded, her voice cracking.

            Sesshoumaru only raised an eyebrow at her question and before he could stop the words he stated, "Impudent girl, you ask too many questions. I, Sesshoumaru have no need to answer any of your demands—"

            "Still with the 'I, Sesshoumaru'? Don't you ever get sick of being so darned _wonderful_? I understand—"

            "You obviously do not. Humans do not interrupt—"

            "Kami, but you are irritating! Do you ever _listen_ to yourself? When Kaede put that necklace around Inu Yasha's neck I think she put it around the wrong brother. Boy, what I would do to be able to control—"

            "I would not succumb to a mere human, girl and you forget yourself."

            Kagome hummed low in her throat, her temper had exploded and she was going to kill this man if he stood in her room any longer. "God you're so _frustrating_. _Get out of my room!_ I'm going to _kill you_. Do you understand?"

            Before Kagome even realized what she had said, Sesshoumaru was once again standing in front of her bed and leaning in front of her face, his eyes turning a dark pink. Kagome silently swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, too afraid to move or say anything else to him. "Let us clear things up. You are in _my_ room, under _my_ command, girl. Do not forget your place again." With that, and a quick glance over his shoulder, Sesshoumaru walked out of the room and locked the door behind him.

            _The lout thinks that he hasn't done anything wrong and more than anything, I just want to smack that stupid look off his face. He obviously does not want me in his home anymore than I want to be here, so why is he holding me captive?_ A brief image of Inu Yasha popped in Kagome's head and she sighed. Why else would he keep her here except for his pride?

When night fell, Kagome heard the distant sound of crickets chirping but she found no comfort in their song. It seemed as if they were singing of a lost world, a world that they once knew but could never go back to and—

            _Kagome, this is ridiculous. You are making analogies between yourself and _crickets_; you need to get out of here._ Kagome briefly glanced at the door, sighing to herself that it was probably hopeless to try and escape. The man was a machine; he _never_ let anything . . . or any_one_ out of his sight for more than a couple of minutes. His trust only went so far. So where exactly did that leave her and that . . . bite that he had given her? _Out in la-la land obviously, the man didn't even blink when he walked out the door. He just stormed out like he always does; as though I have ultimately done something wrong. One of these days that pride of his is going to get him in a lot of trouble. _Kagome snorted. _Who am I to say it hasn't already? When Inu Yasha finds Sesshoumaru's castle he's going to be furious. I hope Sesshoumaru understands the intrigue that he has gotten himself in to._ Kagome frowned, unsure of where that thought had come from. Since when did she even care what happened to Inu Yasha's brother? She didn't.

            Inu Yasha looked at Shippou who had not stopped wailing since Kagome's disappearance. Inu Yasha had not yet told the group that he could smell Sesshoumaru's scent all over Kagome's hut, thinking that that could only make the matter worse. He despised his brother, true, but he did not want his friends involved in his family disputes. There was no need for them to try and fight Sesshoumaru pointlessly and die because that is exactly what would happen. None of the humans could fight against Sesshoumaru and live to tell the story of it, no matter who they were.

            So what exactly was Inu Yasha supposed to do with them so that he could go off and try and find Kagome . . . alone? The more he thought of the irritating group the more frustrated he became, humans didn't know when to leave him in _peace._ It was always the same thing with them and he understood that they were his friends and he would protect them to their very last breath, but he liked his privacy at times. Privacy seemed like a foreign word to him recently, ever since Kagome had disappeared—ever since Kagome had been _taken._ Inu Yasha had grown wearier without the girl around him constantly. Even Sango had commented about his abundance of grouchiness lately, and Inu Yasha had always thought that she was the one person who would keep to her own. However, the point seemed moot now that Kagome had been taken. Each of the members of the group had been affected in their own way, some more than others.

            The night that Kagome had disappeared, the stupid kitsune had come screeching outside screaming unintelligibly about big white horses and candy. Inu Yasha had blown it off as a normal bout of kid nonsense until he took a sniff at the air and could no longer smell Kagome's scent anywhere near the village. Since that night, Shippou clung to Sango's shoulder, too afraid to go near Inu Yasha without Kagome around to watch over him. Every night after the night that Kagome had been taken Shippou slept with Sango, and cried himself to sleep, wailing Kagome's name in the night, in his dreams. Inu Yasha swore they were more like nightmares, with a screech like Shippou's. Poor Sango tried to alleviate Shippou's crying every night, but each time she stroked his head or tried to whisper to him softly, the kitsune seemed to bawl louder than before, encouraged. Inu Yasha made a point of telling Sango not to egg the kitsune on, for what it was worth, but she muttered under her breath, "too bad that necklace only works for Kagome".

            Each day that went by without Kagome seemed to make Sango less and less friendly. Inu Yasha betted that because she slept with a wailing kitsune every night and barely got enough sleep was merely putting her in a genuinely bad mood, which he could have sworn that only the monk could have accomplished. Every chance that Sango got she would send glares of death over to Inu Yasha and he would merely perk up his ears and stay away from the taiji-ya as long as humanly possible, or until dinner was served. For some reason that was unbeknownst to Inu Yasha, the taiji-ya seemed to think that Kagome's disappearance had something to do with him. Inu Yasha clearly did not understand how Sesshoumaru's taking of the girl had any significant relevance towards him. However, Inu Yasha was too irritated to argue with the woman on subjects that she clearly had no clue of. Each day that passed by, Inu Yasha also noticed that Sango seemed to get friendlier with the monk, and he could swear that the monk had not had a good beating in a good week. Even in the monk's own queer way he too seemed affected by the absence of Kagome.

            Granted the monk would never speak of his problems out loud or for that matter, never speak of things that troubled him with other people, but Inu Yasha could tell that the monk was deeply troubled that something had happened to Kagome. Inu Yasha could swear that he was genuinely concerned for Kagome, but Inu Yasha reminded himself that the monk could never be concerned with anything other than . . . whatever it was that he wanted to do with all those women. However, ever since Kagome's disappearance the monk had eaten less and spoke even less. This was probably due to the lack of good food, but even Sango's repartee did not seem to knock him back to reality. Inu Yasha watched him at night; he watched him stare at the fire and he often wondered what had the monk so deep in thought. After that thought, he realized that the only thing that could possibly be going through the monk's mind was Sango, lying next to him, naked. Pervert.

            So, the issue on hand then had turned out how to leave the group behind and _keep_ them behind for this mission that he himself had to accomplish on his own. However, the more Inu Yasha contemplated leaving the group behind the more he realized the strength of the group. Each person had their own talents, but together, they were the best group of shard hunters—ever to live. Perhaps, then, the best course of action was not to merely leave them out of the game place. Perhaps the best plan was to tell them what he knew and bring them with him. After all, Sesshoumaru wasn't idiotic enough to have _done_ anything to the girl.

            This girl was getting to him, she was making her way into his head and he could not do anything to extricate himself from her. She was obnoxious, human, loud, human, inane, human . . . to even list the girls' faults would have taken him too long. Why was he worried about thinking of her bad qualities? He needed to oust her from his thoughts permanently, he needed to stop seeing her, and he needed to stop checking on her to make sure that she had eaten. He should not care whether the girl had enough sense to eat the dinner that had been left for her. She did not seem to care about anything much and Sesshoumaru idly thought that her temperament was the only redeeming quality that she possessed. Scratch that, she was also the most loyal person that he had met . . . unlike his _brother_ who had abandoned him in the midst of a battle to chase after a—_miko_.

            Just like the girl that was sitting in one of his rooms. What about this girl made his _brother_ lose all of his sense? What was so special about a measly human wench?

            "I am so sick of you. I _despise _you. Are you doing this for the Tetsusaiga?" the human wench had somehow escaped her room and had immediately come running for him. "You can't even hold it, you—you _freak!_" she spat at him, her fists clenching and unclenching murderously.

            Sesshoumaru merely looked at the girl with his collected calm and said nothing. If the girl thought that he would explain his actions when she had something other than _talk_ on the mind then she was sadly mistaken. Though she probably knew not, her actions screamed of a challenge and if that was what she truly wanted, Sesshoumaru was not one to disappoint. And yet again, her fists clenched at the silence and she took a threatening step towards him, yet Sesshoumaru merely waited.

            "_Speak_, you dimwit! God, what I would do for a necklace right now to tie your feminine butt to the ground."  With those words, she had finally sealed her fate, to think that she could tell him that she could, under _any_ circumstance control him as she did with his dear _brother_.

            Quickly removing himself from the chair that he had occupied, he menacingly stood in front of her, towering over her and growling low in his throat. Kagome visibly swallowed, but did not move from the spot that she had taken in front of him. There was no way that she would allow herself to be bullied by someone that obviously did not want to harm her. Kagome had theorized that the brute put on a show for everyone around him, but taking in Rin and showing kindness to her had shown his real self, if not to the world, to her.

            "I do not need the Tetsusaiga." It was amazing what standing up for yourself could get accomplished. Kagome gave herself a mental high five, but as soon as she relaxed, Sesshoumaru had taken a step closer to her and she could barely breathe between their bodies. "Your purpose is much more useful than that."

            Kagome seethed, it was just like Sesshoumaru to give encoded messages. "What does _that_ mean?" Unintentionally, her fists clenched again at her sides, but Sesshoumaru merely observed and took no course of action.

            "My matters and what I choose to do with you are none of your concern unless you are otherwise told so. Do you not understand your position, human?" Sesshoumaru asked, merely curious at her reaction.

            Kagome stomped her foot, angrily. "Augh!" It figured that Sesshoumaru wouldn't feel the _need_ to tell her what he planned to do with her. "I _understand_ perfectly, _your highness_," she scathed at him, her top lip furling, ready to growl.

            "You are the oddest human." With that, and not a glance back [_as if he would!_] Sesshoumaru walked away, ordering Jaken to walk her back to the room that he so "_graciously"_ [_his word_] allowed her to stay in.

            _Well,_ Kagome thought,_ I'd like to tell him what he can do with his kindness! He can certainly stick that attitude somewhere where the sun don't shine!_ As Jaken led her away from Sesshoumaru, who had seated himself at the table again, Kagome turned back around towards him and stuck out her tongue at him.

Sesshoumaru, however, did not react and Kagome thought that that was all the better. When she got to the doorway, she once again turned around and glared angrily at him sitting at the table, and she thought that she saw him lift his right arm and touch his bottom lip. Immediately, her hand shot up to her own bottom lip and she felt the stitches that had been put in her lip to alleviate the bleeding. She realized then, for whatever reason, what that mark on her lip meant . . . and why he had reminded her.

            She ran to her room and locked the door, to be left in peace so that she could weep for her loss.


	7. Female Charms

**The Guise of Apathy**

_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

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**_As Jaken led her away from Sesshoumaru, who had seated himself at the table again, Kagome turned back around towards him and stuck out her tongue at him._**

**_            Sesshoumaru, however, did not react and Kagome thought that that was all the better. When she got to the doorway, she once again turned around and glared angrily at him sitting at the table, and she thought that she saw him lift his left arm and touch his bottom lip. Immediately, her hand shot up to her own bottom lip and she felt the stitches that had been put in her lip to alleviate the bleeding. She realized then, for whatever reason, what that mark on her lip meant . . . and why he had reminded her._**

**_            She ran to her room and locked the door, to be left in peace so that she could weep for her loss._**

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—_Female Charms_—

            After that day, Sesshoumaru saw very little of Kagome which had no outward effect on him. As Jaken had commented, just that morning, she [he still refused to call the human any other name] had seen—bumped into, more or less—Sesshoumaru and had only muttered a silent apology, breathless, soundless, and unless a person had been watching her lips they would have missed it. After that day, six days ago, she had intentionally avoided all contact, however minute. Jaken had run around like an idiot since "the fight incident"—as he had started calling it—making sure that the girl stayed put, though he really had no reason to think otherwise, and he started pestering Sesshoumaru to learn of his plans. However, Sesshoumaru had no inclination to tell anyone his plans, albeit, he never seemed to share his plans, even with his faithful servant. Jaken had surmised, however, that it had something to do with that lowly hanyou—Naraku.

            Everyone in the castle noticed the difference in Kagome when she would come and get her food in the kitchen. She was never quite as energetic as she had been when she had first appeared in the castle. It was amusing to see how the servants had changed their attitude towards her so drastically in the past month since she had been staying with them. At first, it only seemed as if Sesshoumaru had brought her to his castle to torment the girl and the ever faithful servants did their civic duty and started to hate the uncannily happy girl, but the more she stayed around the castle, the more the servants had become close to the girl. In the beginning, none of the servants commented on the sullen girl's mood, too afraid of the wrath that could be evoked by such comments, but the more the girl became unhappy, the more the servants worried for her. She had started to grow dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and she did not enjoy the oden that they prepared especially for her. Finally, one brave servant, Mia, a girl who was only thirteen summers, spoke out to Kagome about her lack of appetite and sleep.

            "Kagome-san, do you not enjoy our food anymore?"

            From the table that she had seated herself in the kitchen, Kagome's head shot up from her plate of food and she only muttered, "Eh?"

            "You do not appear to appreciate our food much lately."

            "Oh," Kagome cried, realizing for the first time how rude she must look to the servants, "I love your food, Mia."

            "Then perhaps Sesshoumaru-sama has done something to upset you?"

            The servants at the fires gasped and one servant that was particularly close to Mia smacked her on the side of the head. Mia did not mind the slap so much as she minded Kagome's look of an affirmative answer to her question. Mia could not understand what Sesshoumaru-sama could have done to the poor girl to make her have such a disposition. It was not like Sesshoumaru-sama to make any one particular person melancholic; he was too busy with his own personal business to worry about purposely hurting someone's feelings. This was true even for someone whom had been in the castle for as long as Kagome had been. Everything that concerned Sesshoumaru-sama usually had something to do with himself; he never allowed people into his own private business, which tended to keep most youkai and humans alike far from his path.

            "I'm fine. I've just had a little too much time to myself lately, I think," Kagome smiled winningly and devoured the bowl of oden that had been prepared for her to make her point. When Kagome finished the oden, she silently got up from the table and moved to go back to her room. The servants watched quietly as she thanked them for the delicious food and walked back to her room, dejectedly.

            It was getting to her, that feeling of inadequacy, the feeling that there was no one in this castle who could possibly need her the way that the gang needed her. She realized absentmindedly that Sesshoumaru was using and abusing her, but it was almost as though she was okay with him doing this to her, because it at least meant that in some queer way he still needed her. No matter how many times the brute had played her off and told her nothing of his plans for her there was still that feeling that, in his own way, he needed her. Whether she was happy about this new situation or not, however, was still to be decided. It was almost as if she had gone from one bad situation—where Inu Yasha took everything she did for him for granted and thought nothing of tromping on her feelings—to a worse situation where she knew _nothing_ of what was going on, and she wouldn't even go into the brute's feelings.

            That was what she had begun calling him after the episode in the drawing room when she had lifted her hand to her mouth. Kagome knew that he had done it on purpose to show her that he had no care for her feelings and that she was here because he had willed it so and he could do with her as he pleased. Kagome had decided then that she hated that man more than she felt animosity for Inu Yasha. Well, that wasn't necessarily true, she did not hate Inu Yasha but she could not say that she wasn't disappointed that he had not shown up earlier to get her.

            Recently, she had had too much time to contemplate her inner feelings on everything that had happened since she had fallen into this world. She knew that she loved Inu Yasha; there could be no question of that but every time she was around the brute, Inu Yasha was far from her mind. When she should contemplate how to escape the castle, or think of what she would tell Inu Yasha when he finally showed up—Kagome knew he would—or even try to reason with the brute, she could never find quite the right words. And why was that? It was because the brute hardly spoke to her at all in the first place. Kagome guessed that in one sitting he probably didn't say more than thirty words to her, if even that. The man reminded her of a brick wall; couldn't go around him and couldn't go over him.

            That night, when Kagome was feeling particularly lonely for companionship, she braved the halls—knowing, of course, that Sesshoumaru roamed around late at night—hoping to find one of the servants still up and about that she had become friends with. On her endeavor to find someone to speak with she was lucky enough to see Mia sitting in the foyer, sweeping up what looked to Kagome like imaginary dirt from the floor. "Do you do this every night?"

            At the sudden sound in the hallway, Mia jumped a foot backwards and quickly looked up to find Kagome staring at her, her mouth smiling. "I don't sleep too well at night and this calms me down. Was there something that you needed, Kagome-san? I could make some food if you're—"

            "No!" Kagome ground out, quickly and harshly. Realizing she was being hard on the girl she said more calmly, "No, I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep either and I hoped that there was someone that I could talk to."

            "Of course, Kagome-san. Why don't we go into the drawing room and sit by the fire where it's warm?" With these words, Mia silently led Kagome down the hall to the drawing room.

            As they got down the hall Kagome heard chattering from the room that Mia was trying to take her into and Kagome stopped, frowning. Mia turned around questioningly and tilted her head towards Kagome, her silent question clear in her eyes. Kagome only shook her head and smiled winningly, and Mia shrugged her shoulders and continued down the hall. When they finally arrived in the drawing room, Kagome stopped in the doorway, hearing Sesshoumaru's voice and started to back up. However, Mia never noticed Kagome's departure until she saw Sesshoumaru sitting in the drawing room, a woman at his side, leaning over him and leaving nothing to the imagination of her _charms_. Mia turned around quickly and grabbed Kagome's hand and spoke quietly to her, "There's another drawing room down the hall if we quietly go through this one."

            Kagome shook her head, unable to continue.

            "Kagome-san, please, that woman is only here briefly," Mia whispered to her, dragging her through the side of the room as quietly as they could walk.

            _I don't know why I'm still sneaking through this room,_ Kagome thought to herself. It was as if ever since Sesshoumaru's callous game, where he had made sure that she had watched him touching his lip, she had wanted nothing to do with the man who was her captor. Lately Kagome had to keep repeating to herself that the brute was nothing more to her than a captor who thought of no one but himself and even now, he had told her that he was only using her.

            Kagome thought very little of the man when she was alone in her room. She thought of her mother and Souta and how worried they must be since it had been a month now since she had been locked in this . . . dungeon. Kagome let out a small breath of air finally realizing that she had been holding her breath, and Sesshoumaru's eyes shot up in the night and he saw Kagome and the servant trying to sneak their way through the drawing room that he occupied.

            Sesshoumaru merely looked on with curiosity, for Kagome and Mia had not yet realized that he had spotted them. Sesshoumaru's eyes briefly stayed on Remiyu as her lips made their move for his, and Sesshoumaru thought briefly of stopping her, but his lack of woman companionship lately was perhaps what made him on edge recently. Sesshoumaru saw, however, in his peripheral vision that the girl had chosen that particular moment to look up from her sneaking and stop completely where she was. Sesshoumaru watched her, for he was sure that she could not see his eyes, she threw a hand over her mouth and glared daggers at him with her eyes. The woman had firmly planted her lips on top of the brutes and Kagome could swear that he was grinning maliciously. _Dogs!_ Kagome swore.

            Either unable to bear the blatant passion that another woman had shown him or too angry that he had spent his days thus so, when she had been in her room, crying because she _knew_ what the mark that he had put on her meant, Kagome ran from the room, back towards her own. Mia looked up from her creeping to see Sesshoumaru looking at her with cold fury and she only muttered a small "eep" before bolting from the room, also.

            Sesshoumaru grabbed Remiyu's wrist menacingly and threw her from him, spitting at her, "You told me you had need of my assistance." Sesshoumaru watched as Remiyu grinned cattily at him but he made no outward move to get rid of her from his presence. Obviously, she thought that by appealing to some crazy sense of feminine charm that she was going to get something from him.

            Sesshoumaru looked coldly at her and told her, "Get out." Remiyu didn't seem too inclined to listen to him, however. She was too busy making eyes at him that she obviously thought were intimate, but at that moment Sesshoumaru had realized that he had no need for female companionship; he had quite enough of that with Kagome's screeching voice which could be heard miles away and Kagome's presence had reminded him of that fact. That girl never knew how to shut her mouth for more than five minutes and that was only when she was eating her dinner, which didn't happen enough if Sesshoumaru had anything to say to it.

            When Sesshoumaru started towards the door, Remiyu looked past him and said faintly, "If you ever want some _real_ amusement, you know where I can be found." With that, and a last look back, she walked out of the foyer and Sesshoumaru heard the faint close of the front door.

            Sesshoumaru swore under his breath. He had not intended for the human to see Remiyu; he had purposely taken her to the furthest room from her own. He wondered briefly why she had even been out of her room this late at night. He knew that she had once taken walks in his castle when she had first arrived but ever since they had exchanged words, she had avoided going outside her room unless it was absolutely crucial.

            Before he even knew where he had headed, Sesshoumaru found himself in front of the human's room. He hated her. Humans had always been worthless and the girl was no exception. She had caused him more trouble than he could have imagined, and, yet, she still talked to the servants of Inu Yasha coming to save her. It had been a month now since she had seen him and yet she still held onto her foolish hope. It wasn't as if his half brother did not know where his castle lay; he had grown up here when he was younger. That only left a few options for the human girl, but far be it for Sesshoumaru to say any of those out loud.

            At the rasp at her door Kagome only yelled through the door, "Mia, I'm fine, I need some time to myself." When the door knocked again and there was no comment on the other side to let them in, Kagome became irritated, thinking that it was probably that conceited toad. "Go away, stupid! I don't care if your master sent you. Buzz off."

            Sesshoumaru finally spoke through the door, "Open the door, human."

            "_You!_" Kagome screamed through the door, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Go away. I have nothing to say to you."

            Sesshoumaru eyed the door manically. He knew that the human was stubborn but he had never believed that she was dim-witted. "You are human, you—"

            "Will open the door, yada, yada. I know exactly what you're going to say, okay? So save it for someone who cares." Kagome had finally reached her limit and she did not care if the brute busted down the door; she was too distressed that she was crying over something as silly as someone kissing the brute. What did that mean, anyway? He was free to kiss anyone that he so chose. Hadn't she said that she was still in love with Inu Yasha? And in love with him she was. What difference did it make that some horny demon traipsed her charms all over the brute? It didn't.

            "—have no claim on me," Sesshoumaru went on, as if he hadn't been interrupted.

            Kagome started. What exactly was _that_ suppose to mean?

            "This episode of yours after seeing that woman and her charms is unbefitting the lowly position, as yours is," Sesshoumaru uttered coldly. Kagome hadn't realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud.

            Grasping the door handle for what little control she still had left, she threw the door open and poked her index finger into his chest and spat at him, "Before you talk to me of my position, perhaps you should remember that I do not want to be here."

            Sesshoumaru was not listening to her, however. He had taken a step in her direction and likewise, Kagome had stepped back one step. When he was far enough in to the room, Sesshoumaru slammed the door and advanced on Kagome. Finally, she stood in the middle of the room, the early morning light trying to pour free from the curtains. Sesshoumaru glared at the human, unsure of why he was even in her room. Since when had he become so uncertain of his actions and thoughts? She was like a disease that didn't die. Insufferable girl.

            Sesshoumaru watched her; the human did not want to stand still for him and he was highly annoyed. Finally, when he had had enough of her prancing around him, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the bed and threw her on it, sprawling her out on the bed, her face looking at the ceiling. She looked at him—no, that was inaccurate, she _glared daggers_ at him, but Sesshoumaru paid no attention as he remarked, "Stay."

            "I think you've forgotten who the _dog_ is," Kagome spat out, deeply troubled at the looks that were passing over his face. Leave it to Sesshoumaru to get angry at her for a _door_.

            Sesshoumaru chose not to remark on this comment and instead he looked down at her, trying to figure out what was going through her mind. He had decided that she was like a fly that could not be swatted away and no matter how much he would like for her to leave, he could not, he would not allow her to leave. His pride in this matter ran too deep and he was not about to lose to the half breed.

            Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru, thinking that if she was to get away from him, now was the perfect opportunity. She rolled over onto her side and with her free hand that was not pinned to the bed, laid her palm against his chest and pushed as forcefully as she could. The problem with this endeavor, however, was that the force of the push and the fact that she resided on the edge of the bed, made her, too, lose balance and instead of just Sesshoumaru falling on the floor as she had planned, she fell with him—on _top_ of him.

            "Impudent girl," the brute snarled out, displeased by her game. If she had been trying to show him her charms by falling on him, which he assumed so, he was likely to throw her off of him just as he had done with Remiyu. He had no need for charms and especially not those of a human girl.

            Kagome looked down at Sesshoumaru, horrified that she had been so clumsy as to take her body with his. Instead of being able to run by him, as she had planned, she was instead sprawled on top of him, her head resting beneath his chin. A thought, unbidden crossed her mind, _I can hear his heartbeat, _and for once, Kagome was still. She was still because the brute—the man, she corrected herself- had a heart, beating deeply. More loudly than she had ever heard Inu Yasha's, beating as if that was the only thing that mattered in the world anymore. And she felt, for the first time . . . connected.

            Sesshoumaru growled under his breath, tired of the human being so close to him, but when he tried to move, the girl put her hands on either side of him to try and restrict his movements and he looked down at the crown of her head. She had her cheek pressed against his chest, as if she was listening to his heart. Sesshoumaru frowned, annoyed. He took his hand and roughly pulled her face up to his, intent on asking her what she thought she was doing exactly. However, when he saw her face, softened by the light streaming through the room, her eyes softened at the regular beat of his heart, Sesshoumaru paused.

            He did not pause because the girl had gotten under his skin, she hadn't! He did not pause because the light illuminated her beauty, it hadn't! He did not pause because she took his breath away, she didn't! He paused because he hated the look on her face, he hated the sympathy deep in her gaze, and he did not want anything from her. So it was no surprise to him that he lifted his own head up and placed his lips on hers as roughly as he could, to wipe away any traces of _any_ look that she thought to give him. It was no sweet kiss of promise for a girl who had never been kissed; it was a kiss of force, of fervor. His lips demanded more than Kagome could even comprehend, he nipped, he rubbed, and he pounded his lips on hers. 

            Sesshoumaru took complete control of the situation and with his hand grabbed her waist and rolled her under him. Her neck strained to meet his lips and he was pleased.

            He was pleased that the possessed had become the possessor.

            As expected, everything was falling into place.

            The first trial had been hurdled and, as expected, he was the winner.

            His plans never failed.


	8. Of Complex Paradoxes

**The Guise of Apathy  
**_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

**_ This was no sweet kiss of promise for a girl who had never been kissed; it was a kiss of force, of fervor. His lips demanded more than Kagome could even comprehend, he nipped, he rubbed, and he pounded his lips on hers. _**

**_ Sesshoumaru took complete control of the situation and with his hand grabbed her waist and rolled her under him. Her neck strained to meet his lips and he was pleased._**

**_ He was pleased that the possessed had become the possessor._**

**_ As expected, everything was falling into place._**

**_ The first trial had been hurdled and, as expected, he was the winner._**

**_ His plans never failed._**

****

—_Of complex paradoxes_—

Kagome started; she was more frightened by the intenseness of the kiss than of actually being in Sesshoumaru's arms. She had never imagined herself in the position that she found herself currently. Sesshoumaru was not one to let his feelings show so easily and Kagome idly wondered if it was because she had recently pushed him to his limits with her demands. However, nothing had prepared her for the assaulting sensations that stirred deep within her with a simple kiss.

Unintentionally, she compared Inu Yasha's kiss with that of his brothers. The foremost difference between the two was the force with which Sesshoumaru applied and Inu Yasha who put a gentler, sweeter tone to their first kiss. Kagome reprimanded herself, what did she mean 'first'? She was certainly not implying that Sesshoumaru was going to take liberties as he had done tonight again. Kagome didn't know what kind of game he thought that he was pulling, but no one pulled the wool over Kagome's eyes. She had a little brother; she thought herself all knowing and all seeing, very little could get past her keen ey—

"_Mmph_!" Sesshoumaru had unintentionally—was that _really_ an accident?—grabbed at her waist to stay her and had '_unintentionally' _put his good hand under her shirt, effectively holding her in place. The warmth that came from his hand was strangely—nothing about this situation was anything _but _strange—comforting in response to his ferocious kiss. Kagome gasped for breath. "Your sword is _digging into my side, thank you._"

Sesshoumaru merely watched her lips move to form the words and tilted his head slightly to acknowledge the mess that she called language and frowned, "I do not carry a sword in my own castle."

Kagome's eyes rounded. "B-but, you're a _dog!_ That's an improbability! _Seriously . . . _oh, Kami." Kagome shifted her weight only to realize that his weight, however, was not going to shift with her.

"I think you speak too much. You are much more pleasant when you are terrified."

"Pshaw. That's only because you _like_ to terrorize me, you beast," Kagome spat, eyeing Sesshoumaru coldly.

"If you would stop shifting your weight thus I could remove myself from your _enchanting_ presence," Sesshoumaru muttered coldly. _Ah, good ole Sesshoumaru is back. That other man frightens me, _Kagome thought bitterly.

"I'll give you _enchanting _you callous son of—"

"I am leaving." With that and without so much as a glance back towards her, Sesshoumaru had slowly walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly. Leave it to Sesshoumaru to leave one in the dark of his plans. However, more importantly . . . what was that _kiss_? Kagome lifted her hand to touch her mouth and frowned. Her lips were still moist from where he had licked at them and she cringed. Inu Yasha was not going to like the situation he would find her in.

Kagome muttered something unintelligible in the dark and scooted herself across the hallway. She was hungry, agitated and the only thing she reconcile herself with was the thought that Inu Yasha was going to _murder_ Sesshoumaru. _Not that I particularly want him dead, because I don't. No, _seriously_, I don't really want him dead. Not that I have that much faith in the other dog but—_

Kagome reprimanded herself. Now she had taken to the habit of talking to herself, and she wondered silently what would be next on the list of grievances against Sesshoumaru. _Arrogant dog._ _Someone_ obviously needed to put him in his place because he blatantly thought that he was undefeatable. _Bah._ _I could beat him at a history quiz in less than three minutes. That is, if he even knew that he, himself _was_ ancient history._ Kagome realized for the first time in days that Sesshoumaru didn't even know that she came from a completely different time. Kagome frowned. Well, it wasn't as if there had been a particularly right time to inform him that she was a time traveling human. _Ah, well._ Sooner or later the truth would come out, and really, it couldn't possibly be that big of a deal to Sesshoumaru. Besides, he had everything he ever wanted here, right?

"You test my patience."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Am I supposed to be scared of a little _toad?_ Look, buster, I don't know why you follow me around all the time, but I am _surely_ sick of it. I would appreciate it if you would _leave me alone. _I am hungry, which is why I had wandered out of my room in the first place. I don't suppose you think I'm dumb enough to try and escape again, do you?" Kagome stopped Jaken. "On second thought, hold your thoughts for someone who cares what you think." Yet still, Jaken followed silently behind Kagome and she stopped. "Do you not understand Japanese? _Go away._" However, Kagome did not bother to turn around and still, he followed.

Kagome had had it; all she wanted was some food, she was hungry and she really wasn't idiotic enough to try and escape Sesshoumaru's castle again. She was human, she learned from her mistakes. Kagome swung around with one of her arms in the air, and had it been Jaken standing behind her she would have hit his _face._ However, it was _not_ Jaken that was standing behind her and, instead of hitting a small toad on the face, she hit the edge of Rin's ear. Kagome gasped. "Oh, Rin, honey, I am _so sorry._ Oh geez. I am such a klutz. Oh man. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Rin grinned at Kagome, "Rin is fine. Kagome-sama barely hit my ear. I pushed Jaken-sama out of the way. His face puffed up and was all icky-looking." Kagome laughed. There was something endearing about this child that she could barely place in her mind, but it was there none the less. "Rin is also hungry."

"Of course you are; you're a growing girl. Would you like me to make you something?" Kagome asked, thinking that the only thing that she really knew how to make was over a stove and instant. Perhaps she could _pretend_ that she knew how to cook.

However, at Kagome's thoughts, her face gave away her dubious look and Rin grinned. "Rin would love some of Mia's Oden."

Kagome's stomach growled in concurrence. Kagome reached her hand out to the child and Rin put her hand in Kagome's as they walked silently down the hallway. Jaken still following closely behind them.

Close by, Sesshoumaru listened closely to their conversation in the hallway from his library. He briefly wondered if bringing home the obnoxious girl was having any effect on Rin and decided that any effect that the human had on Rin had to have some sort of welcome outcome. Putting Rin with someone of her own species was probably something the girl had needed since her parents had died; he had just not had time to pick someone for her. He had had enough to worry about with the other wench lately, anyway, and had thought of nothing else except that annoying girl. She was like a plague; at first one did not notice the little things that she did to purposely annoy one, but then as she grew on one and she became an object of distaste to where he—_one_—started to notice every little thing that she did and how every bit of it was obnoxious.

What was that attitude that she carried?

Women were generally silent in his presence and barely spoke _if _even at all. He had learned to accept this long ago and if women were _not_ obedient and docile then he had little time for them. This was a category that Kagome fit into perfectly; he doubted very seriously that she knew what the words _docile _and_ obedient_ meant. Sesshoumaru thought briefly that he would like to teach her a little obedience and he frowned. The wench was invading his thoughts. His privacy was being overtaken by a girl with wit and intelligence and he found himself _amused_. Perhaps she had drugged him when he had kissed her, perhaps with some foreign elixir.

He had had his whole plan figured out until that wench figured into the play. Now he had had to back-track just to come up with another plan that was suitable to destroy his brother. He had figured, at first, that by marking Kagome she would know her place, and he would not have to worry about her any longer, and then he could peaceably fight Inu Yasha without the wench interfering. However, after he had bitten her, he had realized that it would take much more than a simple mark to make her realize just exactly what was going on, so instead he had bitten lightly on her, intentionally leaving his scent all over her. It was the only way; the wench had to realize what that meant. She had to smell him on herself when she slept, even if she was human. However, with that act he had cast himself into a hole; he realized that he did not want to stop with just a bite. He wanted to kiss her senseless until she shut her mouth and realized what exactly she was in for.

It would not be so.

He would not let the situation get that out of control. He could barely stand to hear her bitch and moan now about the bite—and she called _that_ a _kiss_, as if he would kiss a human!—far be it for him to take anything further and her ranting become incessant. The paradox that came with that thought, however, was that the more he was around her, the more he wanted his scent to _stink_ on her. At that thought, he slowly got out of his chair and went to his window. The wench was taking up far too much of his free time.

Kagome sensed his presence before Jaken and thought that perhaps she had been in this castle too long if she was noticing the small things about Sesshoumaru. However, before she could utter a word, a hand was clamped over her mouth and she was dragged away, Jaken looking on absentmindedly, trying to pry Rin's attention off of the scene.

"It does not seem as if my brother cares too much for you."

Kagome snarled under her breath at him. "I don't know what you mean."

Sesshoumaru tilted his head at the snarl and said only, "I would have thought that he would have come sooner for you if you meant so much to him that he travels with you by day."

Kagome stopped. Sesshoumaru was right, it had been a little over a month and a half since she had been here and she had seen neither hide nor hare of Inu Yasha. She had wondered if perhaps he wasn't going to come at all, but she wouldn't tell _Sesshoumaru_ that. _Arrogant dog._"Well, he does have a baby kitsune with him, a monk and a taiji-ya."

Sesshoumaru acknowledged her words silently and said nothing.

Kagome hated his silence. It meant he was thinking. Kami forbid arrogant dogs think. The world had to have some justice to it, right?

"Perhaps."

_ Perhaps?__ That was it?_ Kagome was vaguely surprised that he had not scoffed at her, and vaguely surprised that she had had exactly twenty words with the brute that did not include ranting at him. After all his jabbering and the only thing he could say now was 'perhaps'? Well, she couldn't expect to have a decent conversation with him. She got more out of her conversations with Rin than she did with the brute. He had never really spoken to her as a person and this conversation was probably as close as she was going to get to any sort of real conversation. And to think that it had been about his brother. Gee, imagine that.

"You are perplexed. Again. This is becoming somewhat of a habit for you," Sesshoumaru muttered, annoyed.

"Well, I just don't appreciate being grabbed and manhandled all the time," Kagome spat, her face infusing with color. What had he said that made her cheeks so hot?

"You did not seem to mind it so much when I was on top of you."

_ Had he just said that? _Kagome wondered. _No way, now I _know_ that this is a dream. There is no way in hell that the dog would bring up what we had done. He _hates _me._ Well, she would let this play out and see how long it took her to wake up. "I was surprised. Do not think for one minute that I would allow that to happen again." If she was in a dream she could easily outmaneuver him, right?

Sesshoumaru looked at her annoyed and spat, "If I wanted it to be so, it would. Do not test my patience, girl."

Kagome only rolled her eyes. Perhaps she was pushing this dream too much, but even if she was, the dog deserved every word that she lashed out at him. "I'm not even attracted to you, but that probably doesn't even matter to you, does it? You probably always get what you want, no matter what the circumstances or the consequences, right?"

"You are a bad liar."

"Is that all you have to say, Mr. High and Mighty?" she mocked him with a sour look on her face "'You are a bad liar', oh please, give me a break. You can't tell when I lie or not. There's no way in hell that I could ever be attracted to someone who is so incapable of being loved and loving in return. That is exactly why I love Inu Yasha."

"And yet, you are not attracted to him as you are to this, Sesshoumaru. I wonder why that is," he looked smug. Too smug. Perhaps this dream was getting a little bit out of hand. She had to grasp back the conversation while she still could.

"Oh please. I could never be attracted to you. Period. Okay, so, I'd like to wake up now," and Kagome pinched herself. Hard. Hard enough to leave a bruise and she yelped.

"So that is why you are so free with your words. You believe that you are dreaming."

"Well, I know I'm dreaming, nimwad. There is no way I'd have a conversation with you that was this long and this involved. Besides, I'm way too annoyed with you in real life to sit down with you and actually say more than five words in one sentence." And so, Kagome pinched herself again, but only ended up with the bruise on her arm becoming darker and hot to the touch. Something was very wrong.

Sesshoumaru looked at her coldly. "You are not dreaming and you are deluding yourself if you think that you are not attracted to me, the bite yesterday proved that to me."

Kagome rolled her eyes. What was with her lately? That was all that she had been doing recently. "What bite? That was a kiss. And a very _bad_ kiss, which proves right there that I am not attracted to you."

Sesshoumaru leapt out of his seat. "There is a distinct difference in a kiss and what I did to you. Let me prove all three right now for you." Before Kagome had a chance to react, Sesshoumaru had grabbed her and threw her on the floor, his face mere inches from hers. Uncharacteristically, Sesshoumaru smirked above her and stated, "I can smell your arousal, Kagome."

Kagome struggled, "My abject hate for you must be mistaken for attraction."

Sesshoumaru growled, "You are like a bitch in heat. You want to hurt me and have my litter. This is normal behavior for a bitch."

Kagome gasped, "In your _dreams, _buster!"

"And like all bitches, you deny what you feel. Now tell me, human, does this feel like a dream to you?" Sesshoumaru raised an inquisitive brow.

"Kami, it better be." The conversation had become completely out of hand. Sesshoumaru was sitting on top of her, his hand gently placed on her chest, pushing her into the floor. His smell was intoxicating to Kagome, and she wondered how much longer she could deny her attraction to him. _Forever._ _This is ridiculous! I have no attraction to this arrogant dog who has no feelings, _Kagome thought irrationally. And even if she _did_ decide to acknowledge it, she knew that she would rather die than tell him so.

He smelled her arousal, it was stronger than he had expected and he was oddly pleased. Instead of contemplating this more, he told her, "I will show you the difference between a bite and a kiss."

Before he had even a chance to stop her, Kagome had slinked her way halfway underneath him to escape. Sesshoumaru glared down at the girl as she tried to make her way under him. She had obviously lost her touch as well as her senses if she thought that she could so easily outmaneuver him. She moved about halfway under him before he caught her with his good hand and dragged her up by the rim of her shirt—was that a shirt? He had nary a chance to glance at her attire before today with all her ranting, and really, what sort of female went about wearing something so . . . unfeminine. Oddly enough, however, the shirt seemed to fit her _and_ her personality. "What _are _you clothed in?"

"Eh?"

"This _attire._ Why do you insist on something so unfeminine?" Kagome laughed. She couldn't help it; he sounded so serious about the conversation and they were only talking about her _clothing_.

"It's my school uniform, I am forced to wear this _unfeminine _piece of clothing," Kagome didn't even feel like elaborating on what exactly a school was, but by his bored expression, she bet that he didn't care too much to know either way.

"Perhaps your manner would change if your attire did so, also."

"Fat chance."

"You speak riddles, wench."

Kagome rolled her eyes. _What is it with this dork? He thinks he can change my whole personality by putting me in some fancy clothes? As if I'm so shallow. Though it is odd to hear him speak about my clothes and not my smell as Inu Yasha had stated the first day we had met. Perhaps my . . . scent isn't so unappealing after all. To each his own, I suppose. _"Putting some pretty clothes on me like your dress-up doll is not going to change my attitude. I am not that shallow."

"Perhaps," and instead of elaborating on _that_ statement, Sesshoumaru merely whispered again, "I will now show you the difference, you impudent wench."

Kagome stopped. She wasn't pausing because she didn't know what he was talking about, she paused because she felt herself start to automatically acquiesce and it worried her. Perhaps being in Sesshoumaru's presence had had a weird effect on her affections. _I love Inu Yasha!_

Sesshoumaru growled. "Do not speak of that name here, wench. My _brother_ is not a welcome topic in my house." Kagome hadn't realized she had spoken aloud. "I will tell you one thing, however, my brother will no longer want you . . . as a mate." He looked at her through narrowed eyes, he assessed her, made her feel her worth to him. His look told her that the brief moments of banter and companionship had meant nothing to him. As if to drag her down into an endless pit he added, "You are marked_—_filthy. If you should belong to anyone or love anyone, it can be no one but me. You should feel honored that I have marked you so, lowly human." Without so much as a glance back towards her, he stormed from the room, his feet echoing loudly on the floor, his anger clear in his words and his steps.

Kagome spoke no words, she felt angry and miserable in one breath. '_No longer want you_' . . . '_no longer want you_' . . . '_no longer' . . . 'want you—as a mate.' _Contemplation would be the death of her, along with the mark that would not disappear with time or cleanliness.

A/N

Six and a quarter's worth of pages, but yet, I have to wonder, throughout all that time was it worth it? To wait for six pages? Hmm…well, anyway, the chapter is completed and I promise the next won't take so long 'cause I'm about to go on Christmas break and have a ton of time to write. Yay? Look for _To Disregard is to Err_ to be updated next, however and then _Since Then._ I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I love you all.


	9. Escape is to contemplation as

**The Guise of Apathy**  
_By: Rachel Elizabeth_

"**_I will tell you one thing; however, my brother will no longer want you . . . like that." He looked at her through narrowed eyes; he assessed her, made her feel her worth to him. His look told her that the brief moments of banter and companionship had meant nothing to him. As if to drag her down into an endless pit he added, "You are marked—filthy. If you should belong to anyone or love anyone, it can be no one but me. You should feel honored that I have marked you so, lowly human." Without so much as a glance back towards her, he stormed from the room, his feet echoing loudly on the floor, his anger clear in his words and his steps._**_** Kagome spoke no words, she felt angry and miserable in one breath. 'No longer want you' . . . 'no longer want you' . . . 'no longer' . . . 'want you—like that.'**_

—_Escape is to contemplation as...—_

It wasn't fair and that was all there was to it. That brute had completely ruined any rational thought that she could have possibly made to aide her escape. She had never truly intended on staying in this castle for longer than was necessary; her original plan had been to figure out what diabolical idea Sesshoumaru had had that involved her in some queer way. That reason, more than any other, she thought, was still the main reason that she was still residing in this castle. If she had put her mind to it, she didn't doubt that she could have gotten away from Sesshoumaru at any point and there were a number of reasons as to why. He never watched her himself; he always allowed his servants to do the arduous task of taking care of her personal needs, even forcing them to follow her around the castle if necessary. Kagome didn't think for a minute that she couldn't outwit some of his more dim-witted servants. Well, she had finally had it.

That _was _it; she had had enough of this castle and its weird ways and even more than enough of its awful prince. She hated thinking of Sesshoumaru in those terms, for what man—be it dog, or whatever—like him could possibly be something as important as a prince? However, everyone in the castle seemed to regard him as such. _How disgusting._ It really just meant that he had brain-washed so many poor, innocent servants into believing his rubbish that they actually took whatever he said to heart. Besides, what could the man actually be doing for these people? _Probably little to nothing. _Kagome rarely ever saw him go outside the castle unless it had something to do with Inu Yasha or Rin, and where, exactly, did that leave the village folk? He probably thought nothing of the poor, starving people in the village.

As much as he had frightened her the first time she had left the castle—no, she really hadn't forgotten about that—she wasn't going to be deterred this time. She could absolutely not stay in this suffocating castle any longer. The brute had made it appallingly clear that he wanted nothing to do with her and that _no one_ would ever want anything to do with her, so why waste her time when she could be wasting it at school, in her own time, in her own bed, with her own lovable cat, Buyo? She could think of little else but of getting back to her mom and her friends in the twentieth century. It probably didn't help that she was going stir crazy. No one would want to be stuck in an over-bearing household like this one, so why should she have to endure it even if the brute did say that she had no choice? She always had a choice. She was Kagome; there was always an easy way out of everything, hadn't she learned that in school?

Now was definitely not the time to be contemplating school; she had a lot of work to do if she ever expected to escape this castle. It was also going to be a lot easier said than done.

Sesshoumaru barely managed to keep quiet in his study. He had found himself in the annoying habit of humming to himself. He had oftentimes heard the wench singing some silly little tune to herself and he had, recently, found himself to be doing the same. As if having to endure her presence wasn't enough of an annoyance, he was now _picking up her habits. _That was most assuredly the last time he would ever get near the girl again. He had become extremely too close to the girl and completely too intimate. Though the notion of intimacy with the girl was not as repugnant as he had originally thought it would be; he would still _not_ allow himself to become entangled in such a relationship with a human as his father had. He would not turn out to be a failure.

He would just stop seeing the girl, for now, until Inu Yasha came to get her and then he would execute the plan as he saw fit. He planned on ripping out Inu Yasha's heart and eating it alive. His brother would face a reality so devastating he would be hard-pressed to give it up. Sesshoumaru thought about the current schedule. It was past time and Sesshoumaru had little time to contemplate how his brother would react if he knew the news. However, it didn't matter anymore. Sesshoumaru had no one else to rely on and he would not start relying on his brother now. His brother would accept the change or face the consequences; namely, Kagome's consequences. His refusal would be her death and Sesshoumaru cared little. This reason, more than any other, was why it was detrimental for him to be around the wench.

He heard a quiet rustle outside his door, but paid it little heed until he saw a little head sticking through his doorway. Leave it to Rin to pick the most inappropriate times to want to spend time with him. "Come," Sesshoumaru spoke with confidence.

However, Rin stopped two feet inside the doorway and looked up at him. Something in her features spoke volumes to him and his first thought was that perhaps she had eaten something that had not agreed with her, but after looking at her expression change to that of apprehension, Sesshoumaru decided that something was wrong. The next logical thought to follow the earlier was that something had happened with Kagome and Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow. "Rin, there is no room for secrets in this house. Tell me what has happened."

Rin frantically looked around the room, as to avoid eye contact and spoke in a very mild voice, "Kagome-san has wandered outside the castle. Rin does not want anything to happen to her, since Rin remembers Sesshoumaru-sama speaking about how dangerous it is late at night."

Sesshoumaru's reaction was immediate. Instead of waiting to hear the rest of Rin's story, he flew outside, intent on finding the silly wench and teaching her a lesson once and for all. He had told her that she should not leave his castle and he had told her of the consequences. He had thought she had learned, but obviously, it was time for a re-education of the unpleasant things that happened when one disobeyed his orders. When he reached the outside of his castle, Sesshoumaru briefly paused to see if he could pick up the annoying girls scent, but she did not seem to be traceable at that point. The girl was either too far away from the castle or she had found a way to block her scent from him, and Sesshoumaru doubted the latter.

Very quickly Sesshoumaru started to walk again hoping that he would soon find the wench, for he had no want of being outside his castle this late at night when there were still things that needed to be done. Once he found the wench she would be sorry that she ever tried to escape, he had thought that after the first fiasco she had learned a valuable lesson but apparently the girl thought nothing of what had happened. Besides, how far could one human, especially one such as herself, get this late at night with prowlers about?

She had run over thirty minutes and had not stopped until she had heard running water. The closer she had come to the noise the louder it began and she found a small stream to rest by. She had also heard from somewhere—probably that impertinent dog—that water erased one's scent temporarily to be hidden behind the pure scent of water. Perhaps she could sleep here for the night and never have Sesshoumaru trace the steps that she had made, though she doubted otherwise. Figuring that she had run quite far enough, and that the water would cover her scent, Kagome leaned against a tree that was near and started to drift, thinking of her family's faces when she finally came back to them. She would be so happy to be back in her own bed, with her cat.

Sesshoumaru thought briefly of the things that he would tell the silly girl when he finally found her—for it was not a question of _if _he would find her, for there was no question that he would find her. The question became whether or not he would _kill_ the insolent human for disregarding his rules and leaving the castle. This was not a game that could be played and won—this was a game of survival of the fittest and when it came down to it, the human had no knowledge of how to survive outside his castle. What did the girl think that she was accomplishing by her show of bravery?

Kagome woke with a start and realized that she had been asleep less than ten minutes. She didn't know what was wrong with her sense of time, but sleeping outside as she was, she realized that she missed the soft comfort of a bed that Sesshoumaru had provided. Perhaps she had been slightly rash running outside the castle, but she knew that there was no turning back now. She couldn't even contemplate the situation she would have entered in to if she returned to the castle. She could just see the smug look on Sesshoumaru's face when she returned, brow beaten and exhausted . . .

What was the matter with him? Even if the girl had somehow managed to find her companions it would be easy to take her again, as it had been the first time. The dense half-breed was too busy fawning over that corpse to notice when there was trouble in his own camp. And where exactly did that leave the simpering wench? Well, that was very apparent; it left her misguided and . . . alone. It didn't matter, however; because he, too, was only using her as the mutt had used her to find the jewel pieces. He briefly wondered at her worth before he realized that the contemplation of that human would end up being the death of him. Since when had he so much time to think about a silly human as he was currently?

Well, there was no way that she was going to go back to that castle unless she was hog-tied and beaten. First, she had had the injustice of being used to find the jewel shards, which she had eventually come to terms with because she had fallen in love with Inu Yasha. Then, she had had to compete with a corpse—a _corpse_, what sort of competition was that? However, to a misguided mutt that was dissuaded easily otherwise, she supposed that it wasn't too hard to make him stray from what was considered natural. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he had _kissed_ her—when had she become so belligerent about that kiss?—and run back to the corpse _once again_. Furthermore, as if being snatched away from her group of friends wasn't bad enough, she had been taken away by a brute of a man that thought little to nothing of her feelings.

There were no redeeming qualities associated with that human. Ever since she had first stayed at his castle she had caused nothing but trouble and Sesshoumaru would admit—if only to himself—that he could fully understand why his brother was constantly yelling at the girl, even if he himself thought it asinine to waste so much energy. She was human, boisterous, opinionated, stubborn, disrespectful, disobedient, obnoxious, human . . . loyal to a fault, friendly, kind, and she kissed as if she was barely of age to produce heirs. Upon rumination, he thought of what he must do and stopped. He hadn't thought that he would grow—though unwillingly—attached to the girl. But of course he hadn't. Becoming attached to a girl like that at this point in his plans would only complicate matters and ruin his plans. Besides, what man—be it dog or otherwise—would fall for a human with so long a list of faults?

As a conclusion to everything that had happened with Inu Yasha, she now had to deal with the same injustices with his insufferable brother. Though neither would admit it; these two people were more alike than either of them would acknowledge. It was like déjà vu, everything that had happened with Inu Yasha was happening in an even more absurd way with his brother, Sesshoumaru. Now that she thought about it, that statement was truer than she'd like to admit. First, she had to deal with his terrible attitude, then she had to deal with his unfaithfulness—wait, did she just admit to herself that Sesshoumaru was unfaithful to her? Kami, what was wrong with her? How could Sesshoumaru be unfaithful to her? He hadn't even a lover; well, unless you called that . . . episode in the foyer being unfaithful. And now, after everything had happened that was positively crushing her positive nature, he had kissed her—Kagome snorted, let him call it a _bite_, that jerk. It was just like Inu Yasha, next he'd be running off with that—that _woman_ again.

The smell hit him so hard he would have fallen over, if he had been anyone else. She thought that she could drown out her scent with water, but the girl didn't know that that was only a myth. Only low-leveled youkai wouldn't be able to smell the girl; once again, her luck was indefinite, however; with a dog's sense of smell she could be easily traced out not thirty or so meters from her hiding spot in the water. Sesshoumaru could just think of all the things that he was going to tell her when he finally saw her. If she thought that she would be able to try this little stunt again she was going to be sadly mistaken. _Impudent wench. _To think that she could escape so easily was almost laughable. No matter; he would force her to realize to whom it was she belonged.

_ Feh_, _stupid girl_, it figures that she would have taken the comment he had made about water to heart. What had been meant only as a joke had ended up being ingrained in that silly girl's head. Well, that figured. He couldn't say anything without having to explain the true meaning behind his words. Shippou sniffled on his back. The little runt must have picked up her scent, too.

"Is something the matter, Shippou?" Sango asked, worry clear in her expression and in her body language.

"I think I smell her!"

"Inu Yasha?" Miroku hoped Shippou was not just on a loose trail once again. It had already occurred three times today and neither Sango nor he was in the mood to go chasing after dead ends.

"Yea, it's that dumb girl. She's near the stream," before anything else could be communicated to the monk and taiji-ya, they started running towards the small stream. "_Wait_!" Inu Yasha yelled at them, albeit to no avail, "Now's really not the time to be telling you this but—"

They all arrived at the scene at the precise moment when Sesshoumaru had, once again, ungracefully, picked up Kagome's kicking, and screaming, body. Inu Yasha slammed to a halt and muttered, "_Sesshoumaru_!"

Kagome stopped dead in her tracks and cringed. The first thought that ran through her mind was, _Inu Yasha is going to die._ Kagome's second reaction to Inu Yasha's voice was that of apprehension, what would he think of her now that she had the mark of his elder brother? She wondered idly if she had changed in the last couple of months, it had been so long since she had been able to spend time with her friends. True, she had thought of running away to go back to her world, but it would have been eventually thought of that she had perhaps returned to her own world. At one point or another she was going to have to face the consequences. She just hoped that Inu Yasha would be as understanding as she thought he was. There was no turning back now and she had a feeling that Sesshoumaru was not going to be so merciful.

Kagome didn't know exactly what his plans were, but she knew that they had something to do with Inu Yasha and that they excluded the Tetsusaiga. This thought lead to one obvious conclusion where Inu Yasha was concerned; his death. However, the fact that Sesshoumaru now was within meters of his brother, the stupid fool should have let her go immediately when he had smelled Inu Yasha. Nevertheless, Sesshoumaru had _still_ grabbed her and threw her over his shoulders and turned his back on the smell. Even Kagome had heard the leaves rustling in the other direction and the blatant crunch of fallen branches—okay, that and she had heard Sango yelling "Kagome!"; but it was inevitable that Sesshoumaru had smelled his brother long ago before he had even found her. So what exactly were his plans?

Sesshoumaru barely turned around towards his brother when he had spoken. "Do not speak so casually to me, Inu Yasha." It was the first time that Kagome had ever heard Sesshoumaru speak in a civilized tone of voice when addressing his brother. At this comment, Sesshoumaru gently set Kagome on the ground, in front of him. Instead of the symphony that she thought would go through her head when Sesshoumaru finally allowed her to leave, however, Kagome stood, mute, stupid, her back not inches away from Sesshoumaru, her heart in absolute disarray; she stared at the ground unrecognizably. When she finally had enough courage to lift her eyes to her friends, a single thought went through her mind; _Inu Yasha can smell him on me._

Kagome, however, did not notice the blatant possessiveness that was deep within Sesshoumaru's glance when he had set her down. The minute that Sango and Miroku had stepped forward to hug their friend, Sesshoumaru had uncharacteristically frowned in displeasure. Neither his frown, nor Kagome's aloofness disturbed either of these two friends, for both went after her immediately. Their first concern was Kagome's safety and it mattered little to either that Sesshoumaru had not, in fact, relinquished his control over her. However, the minute that the two friends had become inches away from grabbing her, Sesshoumaru let out a tiny growl for their benefit. Sango and Miroku both glanced up at Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome?" Miroku was worried; it was aberrant of her that she had not run towards them in the first place. It was even more abnormal when she took a step backwards, into Sesshoumaru's arms. When both the friends looked back towards Inu Yasha, he was snarling, his face so contorted that neither Sango nor Miroku dared utter another word.

"He's marked her," Inu Yasha growled out.

Miroku and Sango looked back at Kagome and at once saw the tiny cut along her lip. Kagome looked at Sango and Miroku and her eyes pleaded with them to understand, but neither of them knew what they could do.

"Inu Yasha, my dear _brother_," Sesshoumaru spoke carefully and scathingly. "It is time for truths. Our father has left you with a decision to make."


End file.
